


A Light In Dark Places

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Series: Worth Fighting For [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Abduction, Assassins & Hitmen, Brotherly Love, Corporation Ownership, F/M, Family Drama, Fugaku Bashing, Happy Ending, Incest, Itachi is the best brother, M/M, Mafia Connections, Many other characters are featured, Modern AU, Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Content, Sexual Violence, Triggers, Uchiha-centric, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-02-22 03:20:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 40
Words: 49,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2492570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasuke is rescued from his father's tyrannical abuse by his uncles and cousins, who bring him to the safety of his older brother. His mother returns to her homeland, Japan, in order to heal herself. Despite his sadness at her parting, things start to look up and peace is on the horizon. </p><p>Six months of paradise shatter around Sasuke and Itachi the day the elder failed to return home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Passing

Madara nearly broke down the door. Izuna was not far behind.

"Where is he, Mikoto?"

The woman shook her head. "Fugaku isn't here right now." Before the younger brothers could interject, she spoke again. "And that's what I'm counting on."

"What do you mean?"

She fell silent and lead the men into Sasuke's room. The teenager, now sixteen, was sleeping. The only thing he ever seemed to do anymore. His pale skin, more devoid of colour than usual, was sickly and littered with disquieting bruising shaped like palms and fingers. 

"Fugaku had always told me that Sasuke disappointed him, but I never thought he would do something like this to our boy." She trembled. "I can only imagine what torment Itachi put up with in Sasuke's stead."

"That boy has a will of his own, Mikoto." Izuna spoke up, wrapping the woman in his arms. "You don't need to worry about him. Itachi made it. And so will Sasuke."

She collected herself with a deep breath. "What do you plan to do? You can't kill your older brother."

Madara looked thoughtfully down at Sasuke for a moment before gently hoisting the boy into his arms. "We may not have to."

"Huh?"

"Itachi took over. he has every right to assert his authority and all elders, once no longer active, fall under the Hokage's discretion. Itachi may not be Hokage, but he is one of the ANBU generals. In his own family, he can kill whomever he wishes, but only he can do it."

"And Itachi won't like this one bit."

Mikoto jumped, but Izuna kept her from rocketing into the ceiling. Shisui smiled gently at her. 

"I'm sorry, okaasan. I didn't mean to scare you."

She let out a shaky chuckle. She didn't like Fugaku much and these recent incidents were not helping, but he had done right by her and Sasuke by secreting his underground business away from them. Even Itachi, to a degree, he had protected. "Could you tell me one thing?"

Shisui hesitated for a moment, but nodded. 

"Who is the Hokage?"

Madara's back straightened and Izuna tightened up, but Shisui only smiled gently. "If Itachi decides later it is better that you don't know, then you will forget this, okay?"

Shisui could talk his way out of murder. "Understood."

"Minato Namikaze."

The blonde's name stopped her brain. "A . . . A-and the other ANBU generals?"

"Kakashi Hatake, Itachi, Shikaku Nara, Hashirama Senju, Hiashi Hyuuga and Nagato Uzumaki. Minato's son, Naruto, is a ANBU Red General. That means that he's training to take Minato's place and can make minor decisions in Minato's stead. If something happens to Minato, Hiruzen steps back in, but Tsunade Senju is Naruto's Medical. She'll train him in Minato and Hiruzen's stead and co-rule with him until such time as he is comfortable."

"Hiashi and Shikaku? Aren't they a little old?"

Shisui smiled again. "They have their successors in mind, but they're Sasuke's age still. They have the rest of their lives to live in darkness. Let them live in the light for a while longer."

"And who is Nagato?"

"Minato let in a band of misfits that called themselves the Akatsuki. They run the streets. Information brokers, essentially. Itachi used to be one of them behind Fugaku's back."

_The black cloak with the red clouds . . ._

"Correct."

"What?"

Shisui smiled again. "You spoke your thoughts aloud."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't worry." He signalled and Izuna held her tighter. "We'll take care of you. I'll deal with the legal. Obito's waiting outside in the car. Izuna, take her out and bring her with Sasuke back to Madara's. I'll collect their belongings and have them sent to Itachi, where you can bring them in a week. In the meantime, there's been a transfer of a hundred thousand into your account. Take them out and get them new clothes and essentials."

Madara nodded. "Understood. See you in a week, Shisui."

Once in the sleek black vehicle, Izuna in the driver's seat, Madara alongside her as she held her dear little Sasuke and Obito and Shisui standing outside her old house, she let her head fall to rest on Madara's shoulder. 

"I should have run back in Japan."

He rumbled a low laugh. "You wouldn't have Itachi and Sasuke. And I would still be stuck with a psychotic as an elder brother. This will work out in the end, I assure you. Itachi knew all along this would happen. Perhaps not to the extent of you calling us, but he knew. All he needed was a reason to kill Fugaku. And now he has one."


	2. In Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those that didn't follow the dynamics of their underground ring, this is how it's worked out in my head:
> 
> Hokage = top dog  
> ANBU Red General = Hokage successor (usually firstborn, male or female)  
> Medical = An MD who works for and trains a Red General - also personal physician and surgeon  
> ANBU General = The Hokage's "Inner Circle" - equivalent to mafia family heads that lead under a godfather  
> ANBU = The "families" of the Generals, usually consisting of their actual families and very close family friends
> 
> You don't need to memorize this because it only really pertains to Itachi and his limits within his jobs. 
> 
> Also, I would like to point out that because this "mafia" is Japanese in nature, honorifics and titles will be used accordingly. If you don't know them, this is the website I used:  
> http://japanese.about.com/library/bl_family.htm 
> 
> Also also, as I am a Canadian born in Canada, and Mikoto is Japanese born in Japan, I don't want anyone getting weird that I'm not using relatively clumsy English for her. (Fugaku and his brothers, Madara and Izuna, were raised in the States.) She was married off to Fugaku at eighteen and had to learn English fast. She's had two kids here and Fugaku's retiring. You are going to assume that she's learned the ins and outs of English and retains only a vague notion of her accent.

Sasuke ate at Madara's, thank Kami. The new clothes Madara bought him looked much less loose, but it made his scrawny frame much more visible. 

It also helped that Madara was nothing if not a hard-head and wouldn't allow Sasuke to fall back into his depressive route. He kept his nephew awake and alive with sparring sessions, weapons matches, cooking lessons and genuine fun. 

Mikoto smiled from the couch as Sasuke beat Madara for the first time in some game on the television screen. She didn't understand them back home and didn't care to understand them now. 

Madara and Izuna were very different from Fugaku. She didn't know where the cross had happened, why the two younger were closer than they were with the elder. Madara was closer in age to Fugaku, only a year behind, while Izuna had been a five-years-later surprise addition.

As crazy as it sounded to say it about the long-haired, bristly, embittered and snarly middle brother, Madara was a man you wanted around. He was thoughtful, caring and helpful, not to mention loyal to a fault. He'd been to prison many times for Fugaku and bore the fact that Fugaku could have gotten him out and  _didn't_ like the kind of man he was. 

He also possessed a surprising gift with children, which endeared him to his (not so) secret lover, Hashirama Senju, one of the other ANBU Generals. 

Madara wrestled Sasuke to the ground with ease. 

"See? If you trained harder, you would be able to fight me back!"

"I would have kicked your ass three months ago, old man! I can see your grey coming in!"

Madara snarled, baring sharp white teeth. "Take that back!"

"You've got more greys than Fugaku did!"

Madara reeled back as if slapped and that was the opening Sasuke needed. With his legs tucked in tightly, Sasuke released a springing kick Itachi had taught him as a parting gift. Even someone as long-term as Madara was sent into the wall and left dazed and confused. 

"Should'a trained harder, old man." The younger raven sneered. 

Mikoto smiled.  _My Sasuke is back_.

* * *

"Remain calm."

Itachi blinked at Shisui from behind his desk and looked up at the professional lawyer. "What makes you think I would do otherwise?"

Shisui laughed. "Sorry, force of habit. You haven't had a chance to change the room up, have you?"

"Unfortunately, no." Itachi looked around the CEO office and sighed, disgruntled. "This looks to antique and old. It needs to be gone."

"Anyway, I was finally able to get news on your mother and brother."

Itachi swivelled around coolly to look at him, but there was a distinct flare in his eyes that told Shisui that he craved this information. "Fugaku opened up the channels again?"

Shisui sighed. "No, actually. Your mother called Uncle Madara."

He blinked again, disquieted. "Say again?"

"She called Madara. Sasuke's been wasting away and she thought the best way to save him was to get Madara to secret him away. I sent her with him, don't worry."

Itachi flinked at his pen like he had his kunai and shuriken back in their training days. "You are a godsend, Shisui. How would my life continue without you?"

He laughed. "I don't know, honestly. But, they're taken care of. They've been there for six days now and their things are in your Uchiha Penthouse."

Itachi had built the supercomplex during his internship with his father at the company. He had informed all of his close familial ties that they had a spot there and were paid for. Itachi owned that complex, from the foundation to the skylights and it was three hundred floors of security and databases and secrets. The bottom fifty floors were databanks and the top fifty were Itachi's personal quarters, soon to be shared with Mikoto and Sasuke. None of the other Uchiha were allowed in there. The only other people with direct access were Minato, Naruto, Tsunade and Kakashi, an old friend from the training camps. Madara, Izuna, Obito and Shisui were a given. They were Itachi's personal Men, the ones that knew the next move before any others and the only ones allowed to take Itachi's place in a killing. The rest knew not to approach for fear of the hallway leading up to the door. Laser-guided water jets, firing thin water streams at Mach 3 ensured no intruder left alive. Bulletproof and water-slick walls and floors washed the bloody mess into the troughs on either side of the walkway, which itself was on a quarter-inch rise in the centre.

Itachi had known Fugaku would come. 

 


	3. Once Again

"Where are we going  _now_?"

Sasuke had been very snippity lately and Mikoto was at once relieved and annoyed. Being sarcastic was Sasuke's thing, but he was taking it overboard and Madara was not the person to do it on.

"Shut up you midget and you'll see when we get there." The older man hissed darkly. Sasuke opened his mouth to retort, but a look from Shisui shut him right up. 

 _Honestly, where would we be without Shisui?_ Mikoto asked herself. 

Shisui smiled softly and mouthed,  _In a lot more trouble than you are now._

* * *

Mikoto knew she wasn't the only one intimidated by the massive, fortress-like building. The building was made of steel and glass, but looked more like a looming obsidian spire than anything. The one-way glass walling off the outside world as six inches thick and blacked out, despite its reflective exterior.  Sasuke was nervous too, judging by his defensive stance shift and how his eyes constantly flickered around the grand foyer. The secretaries and businessmen in suits looked mostly well put-together, but a few of them were obviously out of place. They looked ragged and broken, as if they were homeless that had strolled into the building. 

Properly dressed or not, all of the men and women parted for them and closed back around them again as they approached an elevator with a blast door on it. The rest of the interior was made of sleek matte greys counter-pointed to steel supports and accents laid over with a glossy chrome finish. It was all elegant and modern, which must have been what made the elevator so stark.

The inside of the elevator made a much better attempt at comfort. The walls were a soft blue that accented the dull silvers well and created a soft, calm atmosphere to suit the gentle music. Eerily, however, that music was the only other sound besides their breathing, which is odd in an elevator. 

Another set of blast doors opened to a sleek hallway that seemed to stretch on for miles. The walls were a less intense chrome finish. The wall was split into two inch squares and laid out like tiles. Each of these tiles had on them a small, convex mirrors. The ceiling and floor, by contrast, were flat and untiled. They were solid sheets of steel, unwelded and uncut. Along the side of the walkway, however, there were troughs a foot wide and eight inches deep with a small stream of trickling water flowing back towards the elevator. At the other end of the hallway, another blast door waited for them, though this one possessed inlets to pull the door open with. 

Madara stuck his hand inside the inlet, but didn't pull. A small click sounded and the blast doors slid aside, revealing a luscious interior that didn't suit the lead up at all. 

The rooms were all warm creams and browns and clear glass on dark chestnut supports. It screamed Itachi.

"Sasuke!"

Mikoto snapped around to Izuna's reprimand, but her youngest son had already taken off, nearly throwing himself onto his older brother as he sauntered into his living space. Itachi was fast, however, and managed to settle his coffee atop his paperwork while still catching Sasuke and spilling nothing. 

"Aniki!"

Itachi laughed. "Hello, Otouto." His arm wrapped more tightly around Sasuke and he frowned. "You lost weight."

Suddenly, Sasuke was eight years old again. His face disappeared into Itachi's neck and the muscles in his back tensed. Obito grabbed Itachi's documents and secreted them back into the study. 

"Sasuke?" Itachi's voice had softened and deepened. He tugged Sasuke over to the loveseat and pulled the young man into his lap. He took one of his brother's hands and let the other card through the thick, spiky locks. "It's okay now. I've got you, Otouto."

Sasuke fervently shook his head, but said nothing. 

Itachi nuzzled his cheek gently. "You're safe with me again, baby."

With that, a painful sob ripped out of the baby raven's throat. 

* * *

Mikoto had never seen Sasuke cry like he did into Itachi's chocolate-coloured shirt. He screamed and sobbed and tore at the rich material, even tearing it at one point. He cursed, ranting incoherently and spilling his soul in a language that only Itachi seemed to know. This was all new to her. She had thought she'd seen her children, understood them like a mother was supposed to. Apparently, judging by the way Sasuke clung desperately to Itachi even in his weary sleep, she had missed a lot. 

Itachi rocked Sasuke back and forth on his lap with the kind of affection and humming some tender melody as if he was the man that fathered the teenager. 

"Was I this blind?" Mikoto asked softly. Madara, Izuna, Obito and Shisui had left the room to retreat to the kitchen but were still close enough to call. 

Itachi shook his head. "You mean the world to him. He would be devastated without you. You're his mother."

"That's not what I meant."

He sighed. "No. I ranked top of my class in stealth. The best in our history. Minato can't detect me, so Fugaku sure as hell wouldn't be able to and neither would you. I became a part of Akatsuki in the beginning to make sure they posed no threat to Minato, as they were investigating Naruto. Once I was with them, however, I realized they were an asset. I got Minato, secretly, of course, to invite them into the fold. I'm happy they accepted, otherwise I would have had to kill them all and that would have been very unpleasant. As far as Sasuke, he didn't want to be a burden with how much you fought with Fugaku. So, he told me all of his fears, his angers, his jealousies and his passions. He didn't mean to knock you out of his inner self this much, I don't think, but I was just there more for him and he hid with me when Fugaku was after him. You slept in the same room as him and could offer no sanctuary and his room had been mapped out before. I was just the best alternative."

Mikoto smiled sadly. "You don't have to lie to me, Itachi. I'm not a client."

He sighed heavily again, more weary than before. The sound belonged to a man of eighty, not twenty. "Fugaku tried to kill him and you were never home. Physically, you were there, but your heart and mind were so distant that is wasn't worth the effort of dragging you back to deal with problems that seemed so meagre. So, Sasuke came to me. I raised him and he slept in my bed until he was twelve."

She rubbed her hands over her face, scrubbing back the tears. When she looked at him again, she was nearly void. "How fast can you prepare the plane?"

Itachi stared at her, his expression unreadable. That's what scared her the most. "Obito."

The man materialized beside his General. "Yes?"

Itachi's eyes flickered back to her for a split second. "Ready the jet for Japan."

"Right away." 


	4. Strong Arms

Sasuke awoke, buried deep in thick, warm sheets that smelled like Itachi's body wash and pillows that reeked of his shampoo. 

"Awake, Otouto?"

Sasuke squeaked. The pillows had smelled like Itachi because  _Itachi was the pillow._ "Onii-san!"

The elder rumbled low with laughter, idly petting the younger's hair. "Rest. We're starting sparring again today."

"But Haha-"

A slim finger over his lips silenced him. Itachi looked pained for a moment before sighing. "Mother left this morning on a jet back to Japan."

"She couldn't even wait to say goodbye to me?" The despair in his voice broke Itachis heart. "Does she hate me too?"

"Sasuke, no." Itachi hushed, kissing his forehead. "She loves you like I do. But she has to take care of herself, too. You've got me now. I'll take care of it. Shisui transferred your custody over to me. Well, Mikoto's half of the custody. I'll take care of you."

"And . . . and Mom?"

"She's going to live back in Japan permanently. We can fly over whenever you'd like, though, and stay with her."

"You already know where she's going to be living?"

"I had Obito arrange it so I could sleep here with you tonight. With the way you were sleeping, I couldn't very well leave you on the couch."

"That's why you're my favourite, 'Tachi-nii."

The older raven chuckled and pulled Sasuke closer, wrapping him in his arms. "I love you too, Sasuke."

* * *

"Are you employed by  _Satan_?!" Sasuke cried out between gasps. 

Itachi just laughed. "Now, now, Sasuke. I thought you could take a hit."

"I can, but this is ridiculous!"

Itachi smiled softly at him. "You really deteriorated over the time I was gone, didn't you?"

"I tried not to, 'Tachi-nii, but it didn't work. I couldn't eat and I barely slept." Sasuke replied. 

"Well, I'll make sure you're hungry enough to eat Naruto out of house and home."

"Well, well.  What do we have here?"

Both siblings stopped, but only Itachi smiled. "Kakashi! What brings you here?"

The white-haired man just shrugged. "I haven't seen you in a while. Thought I would check up on you." His gaze landed on Sasuke for a moment, but the meaning was clear. "Anything wrong?"

Itachi's gaze flickered over as well, eyes flashing a deep crimson for a moment before looking back at Sasuke's English teacher. "How does dinner sound? We can talk more in depth then."

"Sure. Whatcha doin' now?"

"Training." Itachi's face grew affectionate. "Sasuke's been put through the ringer ever since I left."

"Ah." Kakashi walked over and ruffled Sasuke's hair. "I'll tell Naruto that he can see you again."

"That idiot?"

Sasuke didn't understand the look the men shared

"I'll tell him you're better now and where he can find you." Kakashi said at least, eye-smiling as he showed himself out.

"You didn't tell me you and Kakashi-sensei were such good friends."

Itachi smiled. "Kakashi is a friend of coincidence."

And that was that.

* * *

"I'm meeting Kakashi for dinner. Something will be delivered for you shortly, Sasuke. Be good." Itachi called.

"I will, Aniki."

"See you later, Sasuke."

"Bye, 'Tachi-nii."

* * *

Not twenty minutes later there was a sharp knock on his balcony door. The raven snapped his head up and his eyes widened comically. 

"Naruto? How the hell did you get onto the balcony?!"

"Teme! Good to see ya alive and moving." Naruto let himself in. "The balcony connects to the one in the living room."

"Wait, since when is there a balcony? This skyscraper is just a massive block of black glass and blast doors in the middle of the city!"

Naruto grinned. "Along the outside of this floor, there are glass hallways that connect all the rooms together."

"How do you know  all this?!"

"My dad and Itachi do business here. And Kakashi takes me with him sometimes."

"You know, for all the  _camaraderie_ between you two, it doesn't seem to help your marks much."

Naruto stared for a moment before shrugging. "School like that doesn't mean anything to me anyways."

"You should take it more seriously."

"I don't have to."

"What the hell does that mean, Dobe?!"

Naruto laughed. "Don't think too hard on it, Teme. You might break that big ass brain of yours."

* * *

"You still haven't told him?"

"Why would I tell him, Kakashi?"

"Because he's your brother and this shit is dangerous. Even without knowledge of your movement, Sasuke will be prime real estate now. He's a target.

 

 

 

 

 


	5. The Hokage

Itachi and Kakashi were the last two to come into the meeting room. 

"I still think you should tell him." Kakashi said, moving over to his seat and casting back a meaningful look behind his mask. "He deserves to know."

Itachi sighed heavily, sitting down in the Uchiha designation. "I know, Kakashi. But I don't want him to go through what I did. He's happy as he is and I'm loathe to pull the floor out from under him."

"Then enroll him in your 'private school'. He'll learn quickly there without you having to do the legwork."

"Order."

The room fell silent. 

Behind Kakashi, Guy and Tenzou appeared: Itachi, Shisui and Madara: Hashirama, Tobirama and Mito: Shikaku, Inoichi and Choza: Hiashi, Hizashi and Neji: Nagato, Yahiko "Pain" and Konan.

Before them, standing on either side of the shaded dais, was Kushina Uzumaki and her son, Naruto. Out of the darkness and silence, Minato appeared, sitting down behind his solid and separate desk.

"Be seated."

The Generals sat while their aides fell back into the shadow. 

MInato smiled. "Welcome. So, first order of business, the invasion of the Russian, Chinese and Italian mafia in Konoha."

"Hokage-sama?"

"Shikaku?"

"I have contacts in the Italian mob. Perhaps, instead of levelling them outright, we could establish commerce to soothe them and keep them from the city."

"And what do you think they'd want from us?"

"Access to the ports. They have shipment destined for the outlying areas, their storehouses, that they have to truck to. A port would be a nice tradeoff."

Minato's lips pursed in thought. "You handle that section of the city. You would be responsible for them."

"I don't fear their retaliation, but I think they might be beneficial allies."

"I'll trust your judgement, Shikaku. You've never led me astray. What about the Russians and the Chinese?"

"We should eradicate the Chinese." HIashi spoke up. "They are vicious and violent. They harass and abuse local shopkeepers as well as kill and threaten them. Without a doubt, they would strike out at us first."

Minato nodded. "The Hyuuga will watch them and as soon as they move to strike, eradicate them."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Neji stepped up and accepted the missive from the clan head and vanished. The orders would be given to HInata, who would be in charge of the demonstration.

"And the Russians?"

"For now, they seem quiet." Nagato said, his red hair and purple eyes combined with his pallid skin making him look ethereal in the darkness of the room. "I will keep monitoring them to see if they will make a move on the city. We are also ready to defend, if necessary."

"Good." Minato looked to Naruto. "Anything?"

Naruto shook his head. "So far, so silent. The mayor, city council and police are still oblivious. Our support system has branched away from illegal business into corporate and we are flourishing. Deeper Black Market contacts have been acquired and heavier weapons will be shipped to the Vault within the week."

"Good. Send three percent of the order to the Hyuuga and one percent to Nagato."

"Hai, Chichi." The younger blonde vanished. 

"Kakashi?"

"I just finished with the killing of the rival Japanese mafia. They're gone."

"Completely?"

"They didn't even escape to run back to Japan."

"Itachi?"

The raven met the blonde's eyes. 

"I see. Meet me in my office. Leave Shisui and Madara out here." Minato stood and the others rose. "If any other remaining issues stand, speak now."

Silence. 

"Dismissed."

* * *

Itachi was grappled in a hug as soon as he entered the office. 

"It's good to see you too, Minato-san."

The blonde smiled brightly at him. "I'm glad to see you safe and sound. Naruto told me Sasuke's getting better."

The raven sighed. "Fugaku did a number on him. Haha's gone back to Japan."

Minato's eyes widened. "Really?" Itachi nodded mutely. "Well, shit."

"She's in my complex over there, living out of my floor. Izuna took her."

"Do you trust them? Madara and Izuna?"

"With my brother's life."

"Why not your own?"

"Because that belongs to you. And he is infinitely more precious to me."

Minato smiled. "Okay. And what do you plan to do about Fugaku?"

"I need to kill him."

"But you don't know how."

"No, I don't. How do you kill your father?"

"Obito would gladly do it."

"Only because Fugaku left him to get tortured."

"Who rescued him, by the way? I never did find out."

Itachi smiled sneakily. "I did."

"Against your father's orders?"

"What he knows can't hurt him. Obito swore himself to me. Madara nearly crushed me in the hug he gave me when I returned his son to him. Shisui's my Second, so Izuna would never go against me. I think that's when they really started to hate Fugaku."

"How old were you?"

"Seventeen. I took Kisame and Kakashi with me."

"That's why Kakashi got the burn marks on his forearm."

Itachi nodded. "Obito was a good friend of his. Time had just distanced them."

"I know." Minato smiled fondly. "They were my team, remember?"

Itachi blushed. "Sorry, Minato-san. I remember ANBU training with Kakashi, Tenzou and Genma. I never got a Genin team."

Minato laughed, but quickly sobered. "So, you have no plan as of yet to kill your father?"

"I have a goal, but no plan."

"Would you like assistance?"

"How so?"

"The other Generals."

"No, no. I could never ask that."

"You're not. I'm offering." Minato frowned. "Fugaku made enemies out of the whole assembly when he left. Tobirama wanted to rip out his spleen."

"Well, that's Tobirama."

"He called Kushina his 'future cockslobbering whore'."

Itachi went pale, but his dark eyes flashed crimson and began to burn. "He didn't."

"He did."

A knock on the door startled to two men. Kushina's head popped in.

"I don't know what you two boys are talking about, first off. Secondly, I'm taking Naruto over to the Uchiha complex to visit with Sasuke. I'm also going to check up on him, since Mikoto's gone. Is that oka- WHA-?"

Itachi wrapped the redheaded woman in a fierce hug. "I'm so sorry, Kushina-san. I'm so sorry."

"You told him?!"

"Kushina, close the door and I'll explain."

She kicked it shut. "You better. I told you to keep that quiet from him!"

"He's planning to kill Fugaku."

She looked up to the raven holding her. His body was taut with rage. She pet his back. "Itachi, your father was a jackass. His leaving for your inauguration was one of the happiest days I've seen inside the Chamber. You're a much better leader and possibly the most loyal and trustworthy General we have."

Itachi's frame shook, but he repressed the tears. 

"For what it's worth, I think you should kill Fugaku." Kushina said softly. "For Sasuke's sake and, more inportantly, your own. Mikoto's gone and the only thing tying you down is that old bastard."

"Hai, Kushina-san." He let her go and smiled weakly. "I'll take you and Naruto over to the complex. I'll program you in, if you'd like."

She smiled. "That would be wonderful. I'll get Shisui to give me the keys."

"Madara has them, actually. Shisui had to drive himself here from court."

"Okay, darling. I'll see you outside."

"Thank you, Kushina-san."

She laughed. "That's Kushina-haha from now on."

He smiled gently at her. She'd never understood how Fugaku could beat and rape such a gentle person.

"Itachi?"

"Minato-san?"

"I'm informing all of the Generals. He'll be redirected to you and all of his possible allies will be silenced. Now, you could have any of your men do it or you yourself. I'm sure Kakashi wouldn't mind getting dirty for you."

"Thank you, Minato-san."

The blonde smiled. "Go home and recover yourself. Here. I had his flown in for you."

"Vanilla green tea? How did you find it?"

Minato smiled and patted the Uchiha on the back. "My secret. I just like spoiling you. Now go. My wife and son are waiting."

"Goodbye, Minato."

"Goodbye, Itachi."

 


	6. Kushina-haha!

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke perked up at the sound of his brother's voice, scrambling over himself to go greet him.

" 'Tachi-nii!"

Itachi laughed and caught Sasuke's wild hug, lifting and spinning the still-too-thin boy around. "Happy I'm home?"

"It gets boring in such a big place all alone." Sasuke pouted. 

The elder chuckled. "Well, I have a gift for you."

Sasuke perked up. "Yeah?"

Itachi set him back on his feet and moved aside so the younger raven could get smothered by a redhead with long, wild hair. 

"Musuko!"

"Kushina-okaasan?"

"Kushina-haha from now on! Mikoto isn't here to feed you anymore, so I'll make sure you get that weight back." She looped her arm over his shoulder. "C'mon. We're going to make food!"

"B-but . . . I'm not hungry."

"You will be as soon as I get started."

Sasuke laughed. "If you say so . . ."

* * *

Naruto shut the door softly. "When do you plan on telling him?"

Itachi groaned and rubbed his face. "Not you too."

He shrugged. "What can I say? Kakashi was my sensei."

"Never."

"Never?!"

"Never."

"C'mon, Itachi. You can't hide this from him."

"You underestimate me."

"Stop keeping him at arm's length! He's not a little boy."

Itachi snarled. "And you would know that  _how_?  _I'm_ the one who raised him. Fuck, he sleeps in my bed! He's not ready mentally for it, even if he is physically."

"Then keep him from the crime aspect, but don't leave him to the public schools."

"Why? I have more than enough money to get him through."

"And what happens when he has to take over the company and sees that you built it on tainted cash? That the very funds to build this  _armoury_ came from Konoha?"

"For fuck's sake, this is Leaf, California-"

"I'm not talking about the  _city_ , Itachi." Naruto's blue eyes bore into him. "I'm the Hokage's successor and his kid. If you don't think I can talk just as fast as you, then you better start keeping  _quiet_."

"I don't want him to understand. I'm  _scared_ for him."

"I am too. That's why I want you to do this." Naruto's eyes went from frozen eddies to sympathetic waves. "I don't want to attend anymore funerals for my friends. Now, look. HInata and Neji are going after the Chinese and that will draw them back to you. Sure, you can keep Sasuke locked up in here and they wouldn't so much as tussle his nose hair, but that's boring. You have everything you could want in this building, but he wants to see people again, even if he doesn't say. He wants to go out to a coffee shop even though you have one in the lobby. He wants to feel the air again beyond an access hatch to the roof. He wants  _out_ and where better to send him than the Academy?"

"I hear what you're saying and I understand. I grasp the gravity of my decision." Itachi fell back against his desk, hand covering his eyes. "I either get a normal brother or a dead one. Give me some time to think on it, okay? I need to think."

Naruto nodded. "You have until the next collective Meeting."

 


	7. Same Faces, Different People

It took Kushina and Itachi two months to fatten Sasuke back up and back in shape. Once he hit that, he was able to attend school again.

* * *

School was a painful and annoying endeavour. 

Already a month into the scheduled semester, Sasuke was left in the dust by his fellow classmates. That didn't stop his friends from failing, though. 

Hinata, Neji, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Kiba, Shino, Lee, TenTen, Sai and, worst of all, Naruto were all failing. Only Sakura and he were passing, though why that was the case was no mystery. Shikamaru, Kiba and Lee slept through all the lessons. Sai was constantly painting things (Sasuke thought he might be autistic). TenTen was constantly whispering to Shino. Neji and Hinata seemed to be going over a map in severe detail, despite the fact that they were in Math. Choji constantly ate and Ino looked like she was in a coma, her eyes unblinking and vacant. it almost seemed like she wasn't there until she would suddenly snap back for a lucid moment. Wash, rinse, repeat. 

He'd once asked Sakura how long she'd done that. Sakura said it had been happening the entire time she'd known the blonde and that there was no planning for it. Sometimes Ino would even leave abruptly without a word.

It was eerie.

* * *

"How do you people even pass your courses?"

Naruto grinned. "I read."

"What? The whole textbook?"

"Usually, yeah."

Sasuke gave him a look. 

Naruto hated having to play dumb.

* * *

It was a week later that forced their hand.

* * *

"I thought I told you to eradicate them!" Hiashi roared. Hinata and Neji scowled. 

"We did." HInata's soft voice broke through the silence of the room. "We killed and cleaned. You can go to their warehouses right now and there wouldn't be a blemish to mark their presence. We  _did_."

"We did." Neji echoed. "There is no way they could have gone underground. We had spies all over the complex, all over the city. There is nowhere they could have gone."

"Did you have spies in the sewers?" Hiashi demanded. 

"We did." HInata replied. "We got reports from them in Hyuuga Japanese. There's no way the Chinese would have learned that in a couple of weeks. It takes years to learn."

"Damn it." The clan head ran his hands through his lengthy hair. "Keep an eye out. They'll know who you are, got it?"

"Hai."

"Hai!"

"Dismissed."

* * *

Itachi picked up his home line.

"Hello?"

"They're at the school."

The phone wasn't finished bouncing into the cradle before Itachi was gone. He could only hope Shikamaru was wrong.

 

 

 

 

 


	8. The Gentle Child

"What the actual fuck is going on?" Sasuke hissed. Sakura quivered beside him. Their other friends had gone stock still, eyes flickering in every direction. Shikamaru hit the  _cancel_ button on his phone. 

The voice that came from the black-clad thugs in the room was one that spoke broken English and wore a heavy Chinese accent. "Where are Hinata and Neji Hyuuga."

"Do not engage." He heard Hinata whisper. 

"Hold." Naruto murmured, voice low and calculated in such a way that surpassed dangerous. 

Shikamaru's eyes flickered to him, then back to Naruto. "He's been called."

Naruto nodded subtly.

"What's going  _on_ , dobe?"

"For right now, Sasuke, keep your  _fucking_ mouth  _shut_." Naruto's eyes were a thunderstruck whirlpool, beautiful in their calm violence. "Keep Sakura quiet."

"Hey! I'm perfectly-Hmph!"

"You heard him." He hissed into her hair, shielding her with his body and keeping her pulled close. "So  _shut up_."

She fell silent, if only to keep him close to her. 

"I said, where are HInata and Neji Hyuuga?"

"You mean them?" One of the other students asked at a whimper, pointing at the cousins.

"Fuck." Ino hissed. "I can't get them all."

"Choji?" 

The Akimichi shook his head. "Not enough space."

He shuffled around closer to the Nara. "Who did you call, Shikamaru?"

"He called Itachi." Naruto replied.

"What?! Why?!"

Naruto nodded subtly to the door. "You'll see in a moment."

"Are you two Hinata and Neji Hyuuga?"

Hinata melted into a puddle, holding herself close. "I don't even know who they are!"

"Please, leave my sister alone." Neji said, wrapping her in his arms. 

 _Since when are they siblings? Where did they learn to act like that?_ Sasuke was dumbfounded. 

The shortest man in the back snorted. "They have the Byakugan. Kill them anyway. Just to be sure."

* * *

The door blew open, taking half of the men in the room with it. A gun appeared in Naruto's hand, but he didn't fire. 

The dust blew out of the open windows instantaneously and Itachi dashed inside, grabbing the barrel of the closest man's assault rifle and smashing it against his face before sending him into the chalkboard. One of the ceremonial knives Itachi kept -  _kunai_ , if Sasuke remembered correctly - appeared in his palm and the next second found itself buried in the heart of one of the other armed men. 

Itachi's movements were a blur as he dodged and deflected bullets, charging the men head on. 

His hands latched onto one's shoulders and he effortlessly pulled himself up, spinning his human pedestal around and wrapping his inner knee around another's neck. With a coordinated twist of his hips, the man's neck snapped. He kicked off the falling body and flipped over the one he was grappling with. He was on his feet for fractions of a second before he slammed the man's head down onto his knee, sending near-visible fragments on his nose into his brain.

The kunai was sent sailing into another man's neck and shuriken fastened another man to the wall. 

Dropping down, Itachi grabbed the rifle and fired four shots. Four bodies dropped heavily to the ground. 

Itachi stood, tossing the rifle down in disgust before stalking over the quivering man who had ordered the execution.

"U-Uchiha . . ." He snivelled. 

"What are you doing here?" His tone was deadly serious. There was no room for mistakes for the smaller man. 

"Our boss sent us to find Hinata and Neji Hyuuga! We were supposed to relocate them!"

A thick snarl left Itachi's lips. "And the rest of the students?"

"No witnesses."

Wrong answer. 

"I-I could relay a message!"

Itachi threw him against the wall and stared deeply into his mind for no more than three seconds. The man began to scream and pant, hands twitching and clawing themselves. 

Low enough so not even Kiba could hear it, Itachi hissed. "I'll send my message to your boss personally, thanks."

When Itachi looked away, the man's head dove up for his head and he screamed, the sound the chilling death throes of a tortured man. Thick black smoke started to pour from his nose and redish-black syrup ran from his eyes. 

"Demon!"

"Don't  _fuck_ with my family." Itachi snapped in response, kicking the man into a corner seconds before his head exploded. 

* * *

The whole room stood in silence. Itachi turned and they all held their breath.

"Sasuke? Are you okay?"

"Holy fuck, Aniki . . ." Sasuke breathed, holding onto Sakura now more for his own mental sanity than to keep her in check.

"You're all coming home with me. I'll have arrangements made for you to go home, Sakura."

Naruto stepped forwards, his pistol magically gone. "Did you use the . . . ?"

"Yes. Madara taught it to me."

"Fuck me." Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "We should go."

"What the fu- HOLY SHIT."

"Get Izuna and Obito to meet you. I'm taking them all home."

Shisui looked one more time at the . . .  _mess_ before removing himself to the hallway.

 

 


	9. 'Tachi-nii

Sasuke was shaking like a leaf by the time Itachi let them into his apartment. 

Shikamaru, Ino and Choji were walking together. Hinata and Neji were looking at each other, each flicker of their eyes a whole conversation. Lee, TenTen, Kiba and Shino stood together, silent and unmoving. Sai was whispering in Naruto's ear and the carefree blonde looked more serious than Sasuke could ever remember. 

"Your Generals will be here shortly." Obito said, rubbing his left eye in a gesture reserved for stress. 

"Thank you." Shikamaru and Hinata replied. The others stayed suspiciously silent. Obito then turned to Naruto.

"You'll remain here on the Hokage's orders until such time as the Yondaime can come and collect you."

Itachi looked back at the children, black eyes dull. Naruto thought he looked close to collapse. 

"I'll take you to my floor." Shisui said, ushering the children out.

"Naruto-sama, this way please. Sai-kun, please follow." Izuna directed, leading the blonde and his companion away from the two brothers. 

"Sasuke-"

"Itachi-"

The elder nodded for the younger to continue. 

"Who are you?"

Itachi sighed heavily, collapsing back onto a chair in the main living room. Gingerly, as to not vomit all over the hardwood, Sasuke sat across from him.

"Do you know of Konoha?"

"Yeah. It's the Japanese word for  _leaf_. Mom used to call the city Konoha because of it."

" 'Konoha' is also the name of the Japanese mafia that runs the city."

Sasuke eyed him warily. 

"All of the cities under the control of a Japanese mafia, like Leaf, Sand, Cloud, Mist and Stone, possess someone known as a Kage. For each of these cities, the Kage possesses a different prefix. For example, Konoha is run by a Hokage, a Fire-Shadow. Each Kage is in control of men and women known as the ANBU Generals. These Generals are usually the heads of large families, often referred to as clans. They use their family as ANBU, an old abbreviation from feudal Japan that essentially means 'black ops soldiers'. That is the basic hierarchy you'll find."

"And you?"

"I'm a General. This is what Father was training me for. It wasn't to take over the company. He'd never intended to hand his material wealth over to me. As it was, I raised my own company and crushed his."

"You're an ANBU General?"

"Yes. For a long time, I served Father and made other contacts in other sects within the Generals' legions."

"Why would you hide this from me?"

"For exactly what happened today. My problems would not become yours, I made sure."

Suddenly, Sasuke was standing, scowling thunderously. "Oh, but it's okay that I laid all of my problems on you? You don't even trust me enough to tell me!"

"It's not that I don't trust you." Itachi said, rubbing his face. "I never wanted you hurt or to worry for me. If you'd have known, they still would have come after you. YOu'd be an untrained well of information that they could use and-"

"You don't even care about what I have to say, do you?! You don't care about my feelings, you son of a bitch!" Sasuke screamed, turning and fleeing the room.

A thick, agonized version of his name followed him.

* * *

Before he could make it to the safety of his room, his hair was roughly grabbed by Madara and he was yanked back to be slammed against the wall. 

"Go back there and  _talk_ to your brother, you demanding little shit." The elder Uchiha growled. 

"No! He doesn't care!"

Madara's palm connecting with his face left him dazed and dizzy. Who knew the old man had that much strength in his lithe body? "You're going to go back to your brother. You're going to apologize. You're going to listen to every  _fucking_ word that leaves his mouth and you're going to be  _understanding_."

"Why should I listen to you? You're one if his henchmen!"

Madara grabbed his throat and smashed him against the wall again, sharp teeth bared in a thick, terrifying snarl. "Your brother got beaten, harassed, tortured, poisoned and raped so you could live this cushy, nice life. You know how many times I dragged him back, his body in fragments and pieces, only to have his first concern be you? Grow the fuck up. I'm not going to stand here and watch you throw your little fit. Itachi's suffered a lot and nearly died six times trying to keep your scrawny ass safe. Go back there,  _right now_ , and hold your  _fucking brother._ "

* * *

Madara's threats faded from his mind the moment he seen Itachi. The man had both feet on the ground, his arms rest on his knees and his face buried in his hands. He was trembling like a fucking leaf, almost vibrating.

His voice was thick in his throat as he slowly approached his older brother. "Oh, 'Tachi-nii . . ."

Itachi started, his body jumping, reflexively defending, but his face never moved from his hands. "G-Go check on Naruto for me, will you?"

"No, Aniki." Sasuke sat down beside him on the loveseat and pulled Itachi into his arms. "I need to take care of you right now."

* * *

"You didn't need to be that rough, you know." Izuna scolded.

"Yes, I did." Madara scowled. "You don't know that kid the same way I do. He needed some force to make him see daylight."

"You're such a prick, Madara."

 

 

 

 


	10. July 23rd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> July 23rd is the date of Sasuke's birthday as listed in the Narutopedia.

"Itachi-nii?"

Itachi looked away from the company documents he was studying. Sasuke had left him alone to collect himself after the incident a week ago and pestered him very little. As it was, they were both now in the main living room, Sasuke bent over his math homework at the coffee table. 

"Hai?"

"Madara . . . He . . ." Sasuke paused and looked down, taking a breath to steady his nerves. "H-He said you've been beaten and r . . ." Another breath, " . . . raped."

Itachi sighed and looked down. "I told all of them not to say anything."

"Will you tell me about it?"

* * *

_"Father, please!" Itachi dodged in front of him again. "Please leave Sasuke alone."_

_Fugaku snarled. "I'll teach that boy to live here, useless."_

_"Father, you told me that it was my decision to involve Sasuke. This is my fault." Itachi didn't touch him. He was an antisocial and violent drunk. As it stood now, Fugaku was having trouble standing. "It was me that did it! Please don't do this to him!"_

_Fugaku smirked drunkenly at him. "Just not to him? What if I were to do it to you?"_

_Itachi's face was an impassive mask. "I won't fight if you don't go to Sasuke."_

_"Oh," Fugaku grabbed the longish strands of Itachi's inky tresses, "but I_ like _it when you fight."_

 _"I'll do whatever you want, just leave Sasuke be." Itachi had faced worse than this with the Akatsuki. He had faced worse. He had faced worse._ Kami, let me have faced worse.

_A drunkenly strong grip wrapped itself around his neck. "I want you to beg me."_

_"Don't touch Sasuke_ _,_ please _." Itachi made himself look like a pleading girl. With his long hair, it was much easier to pass himself off as one and that was the gender Fugaku preferred. "I'll do anything, Fugaku-sama."_

 _"That's how I like it,_ _'Tachi-_ chan _. I'll make you scream for me." Fugaku licked at his neck and Itachi released a high whine, going limp._

For Sasuke. I'm doing this for Sasuke.  _Itachi's thoughts were no comfort as Fugaku took him down to the basement._

* * *

_Nine a.m. the next morning, Itachi managed to drag himself out of the basement, reeking of booze, sex, come and blood. At least Fugaku was passed out downstairs and wouldn't be awake again until tomorrow._

_Itachi would have to get rid of his white pants now. There's no way he would get the stains out. Some of his bangs were crusted onto his face with tears and blood._

_"Shit! What happened?"_

_Itachi managed to look up at Madara before he promptly passed out._

* * *

_Itachi woke up in a deep porcelain tub, supported so he wouldn't slip or drown. His hips were elevated and his legs slightly spread. The slightest movement sent jolts of white-hot pain through his body._

_"Stop moving and you'll stop clenching."_

_Madara caressed his clean hair and kissed his crown gently._

_"Did Sasuke . . . ?"_

_"No. Sasuke didn't see you. We're in the basement of the dojo. No one but me and Izuna even knows this is here. Mostly because we built it."_

_"Oh." Itachi rested in Madara's arms. "I need to get back to the house."_

_"Why?"_

_"It's July 23rd today."_

_"Why . . . ?"_

_"Just help me, please."_

_"If you say so. Then we come back here and I'm going to finish patching you up."_

_Itachi laughed softly, his smile bitter. "I need more than that."_

* * *

_Madara carried Itachi over to the sleeping Sasuke's bedside and set him down on his knees._

_The young raven leaned over his young brother, valiantly ignoring his pain, and kissed his forehead. "Happy Birthday, Sasuke. I won't be here again, but at least I saved you again. I hope you like my gift, even if you're mad at me."_

_Madara picked him back up and the left the room with the snoozing youth remaining unawoken within._

* * *

Madara stood, leaning against the kitchen counter, scowling. Why would Sasuke ask at all?

He'd so desperately wanted to throttle Fugaku after that.

* * *

Sasuke looked at him, sheepish, but expecting. Itachi couldn't help himself. 

"No."

"Nii-san, please-"

Itachi raised a trembling hand to him. "This is very . . . sensitive . . . for me and I don't want to talk about it now."

Sasuke looked down. " . . . Will you ever?"

"Maybe not. Don't try to force it out of me. Please."

Sasuke crawled over and took Itachi's hands. "Okay, Aniki. I promise. It's okay."

Itachi blinked back the tears and smiled wanly. "Thank you."

 

 

 

 

 


	11. Follow The Blood

Itachi was a man who looked slim and taut, both of which he was. However, people assumed that meant he was light, which was very untrue, as Sasuke found out.

"Madara!" Sasuke called at a muted whisper. "Madara!"

"What is it, Sasuke-kun?" Madara sang back sweetly, and as softly. 

"Help me!"

"Aww. You need my help, little Sasuke-kun~?"

"Don't sass me, Madara! Itachi's heavy!"

"Fine, brat, fine." Madara picked Itachi up and the smaller man whimpered softly into the black thorns. "Easy, 'Tachi."

The elder brother settled and fell limp once again. 

* * *

Sakura elbowed him. "Where do you think they all are?"

Sasuke looked up from his textbook to glance around the nearly empty classroom. 

"I don't know."

* * *

"Itachi?"

The raven's head turned and his face glowed in the dim lighting of the room. "Nagato?"

"I . . . I found out who was feeding them the information they needed to get around the Hyuuga."

HIashi sat forward. 

A sympathetic frown came to the redhead's face, but he looked up to Minato. The Hokage looked solemn and grave. 

"It was Fugaku, Itachi. Fugaku sold us out."

Hashirama sighed. "Isn't there something we can do? I could have Orochimaru and Jiraiya sent out their scouts to-"

"Thank you, Hashirama, but it is not necessary." Itachi's eyes burned bright red in the darkness. "Shisui already knows where he is hiding. He is in Nepal, in a rural inn he bought shortly before his retirement. He's made it so that the seal's strength is stretched and you can hardly feel his malice, Minato-sama."

Hiashi snarled. "You knew all along?! And you let my heir go after the Chinese?!"

Itachi's chair smashed against the ground and his palms slammed against the table. Crimson eyes burned hotter and thick killing intent snapped free of it's leash. It was enough so that even a seasoned veteran like Hiashi was cowed. 

"Do you think he'd still breathe if I'd have known he was willing to sacrifice Sasuke?! That he was willing to let any of them die?! No,  _Hiashi_ , he's a dead man walking. The problem lies in the fact that all of the locals know and love him and the industry he brought to them. He would know we were coming and just short of a tactical missile, there's no other fast and guaranteed successful way to get at him. Unless you have a solution, I suggest  _you keep your mouth shut_."

Shisui appeared by Itachi's side. "Please excuse us, Minato-sama."

"I think we've all had more than enough excitement today." Minato sighed. "Fugaku is now Konoha's problem, but itachi will spearhead the movement. Now, all of you, dismissed. 

* * *

It was nearly three in the morning.

_For fuck's sake, Itachi. I know you're legal age and all, but the least you could do is keep it down after you come rolling in._

A deep baritone that he didn't know and Itachi's high, drunk giggling kept Sasuke up, though. 

"Fuck, 'Tachi-nii, I've got school tomor-"

Itachi looked up at him, black eyes glazed with pleasure and alcohol.

" . . . That you, Sasuke?"

The man who Itachi was straddling looked over at him, his skin tinged blue and his hair completely indigo. He didn't seem drunk at all, but he was probably how Itachi got home. The way he was holding Itachi, though, suggested a level of comfortable that the most seasoned playboy didn't have with one-night stands. 

" . . . Who's he, Aniki?"

Itachi looked down as if suddenly remembering the human heater under him. His hands threaded into the man's hair and he pulled him close. "This is Kisame."

"And . . . Who is Kisame to you?"

Hair loose and falling over his shoulders, Itachi looked fifteen again. "He's my lover, Sasuke. I met him when I was working for the Akatsuki. He was my partner."

"Why do you keep hiding this shit from me?!"

Itachi curled around Kisame tightly, protectively. His voice, however, was lowered in melancholy. "Last week, you went on a three-hour rant about 'those faggots' at your school you saw kissing and how wrong and gross homosexuality is. I've been gay since I was thirteen and and-" He took a shuddering breath. "I never wanted you to start thinking I was someone repulsive. I had no guarantee that you would change your mind for . . . " HIs voice softened and Kisame kissed his cheek softly. " . . . for me."

His words came back to haunt him and it stabbed him right in the heart. "I'll talk to you about this tomorrow. Goodnight, Itachi."

"Don't hate me for this, Sasuke."

* * *

_"Mueh?"_

"Wake up, Dobe! I need to talk to you right now!"

_"What's wrong? Is Itachi okay?"_

"You're a part of Itachi's organization, right? Did you know he was gay?"

_" . . .  Yeah, I did. So are Madara and Izuna. Why?"_

"Because they never told me!"

_" . . . Do you have a problem with gay people?"_

"What's up with you, now? Why so defensive?"

_"Okay, how much of a jackass were you about homosexuality?"_

"Why is this my fault?! My brother's gay!"

_"Sasuke . . . "_

"Listen! That's not right! Being gay is wrong!"

_"How long did your father drill that into your head?"_

"Fugaku had nothing to do with-"

_"Sasuke, Fugaku was the one who fed our information to the Chinese mob and they're the ones who attacked us at school. Taking this into consideration, how long did your dad drill it into your thick head?"_

" . . . Always."

_"And right there is the reason Itachi never told you. Do you want to know who the other members of your family are fucking? I can tell you."_

" . .. . Okay. Go ahead."

 _"Madara is sleeping with Hashirama Senju. Izuna's with his younger brother, Tobirama. Obito proposed to a girl he and Kakashi trained with named Rin. Shisui sleeps around with men and women alike but has his eye on a pretty little thing named Tobi._ "

"Isn't Tobi a boy?"

_"Exactly. I thought he would be a little too childish for Shisui's intelligence, but maybe that's why he likes him so much. So, there you have it. All of the men you live with, except Obito, are all gay."_

"I . . . I don't even see how that's possible. Obito and Shisui are Madara and Izuna's sons."

_"It's called artificial insemination. Look it up."_

"But marriage-"

 _"They hired a girl to get pregnant and give them a kid. That's what happened. Madara and Izuna_ are _married. They wear the rings around their necks so enemy forces can't identify the personal connection. Even the straight couples have to do it, though usually they'll use bracelets. They like it better that way."_

"Madara married Hashirama?"

_"Yup."_

"And Izuna married Tobirama?"

_"Uh-huh."_

"And the leaders in Japan accept this?"

_"They prefer it. Not that they view kunoichi as lesser fighters, but it is more likely that a shinobi man will search out an equal partner if they're gay while with a woman, they might dismiss meekness and weak bodies as part of the package deal. My father made my mother take ninja training. Even while she was pregnant with me. He didn't want her defenseless when he wasn't there and he thought she would enjoy being able to spar with him. He was too correct."_

"Then why didn't my mom . . ."

_"Fugaku never told your mother about his dealings just like Itachi never told you. They both simply left at unusual times and came back at all hours. That's all, really."_

"Are . . . Are you . . . ?"

_"Am I gay too? To be honest, Sasuke, I really don't know. I've slept with both genders, but neither really grab my attention by the way of parts, if you know what I mean. Sex really doesn't mean anything to me. I prefer finding love over sleeping around and  just getting my rocks off. I don't need another person to do that."_

"You just ignore sex?"

_"I never said I ignore it. There are only a couple of people that have caught my attention, ones that I desperately want to jump. Other than that, I just don't feel for it."_

"Is there anyone you find attractive now?"

_"You've never cared about my preferences this much. Why? Are you afraid you might be gay too? There's nothing wrong with that, you know. Girls don't really seem to be your thing, But you don't seem to be asexual like me."_

"Are you trying to say you think I'm a faggot?"

_"Of course not, you ignoramus! You're not a cigarette. Keep your mind open, you fucking bastard. You live with four homosexual people and all of your friends have sampled each gender. Don't be so fucking judgemental."_

"I didn't mean to-"

_"Look, Sasuke. This isn't my problem. I've got to get some fucking sleep, so I'm going to let you go. JUst talk to Itachi about this in the morning, you dumbass. Goodnight."_

"Good-" The phone line went dead. "-night."


	12. Kisame

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For everybody reading this, you need to check out http://lpilz.deviantart.com/art/Happy-Birthday-Kisame-361815998. 
> 
> DO IT. 
> 
> This pic is the reference I used for Kisame.

Sasuke opened Itachi's door to find his older brother shirtless and splayed across his lover, Kisame. The blue man was awake and running his fingers through long ebony locks. The look on his face was one of pure content, as if he could lay there with Itachi in his arms and never have to leave again. 

"You must be Sasuke." The man looked like a shark. "Itachi's told me a lot about you. He loves you. More than he does himself, I think."

"Why my brother?"

Kisame shifted to allow the sleeping raven to settle closer to him. Itachi sighed and nuzzled into the thick blue muscle. "He was my partner when he was in the Akatsuki. I got to know him very well- " Kisame stopped and then chuckled to himself. "No one  _knows_  Itachi, really, but I like to think that he's allowed me a decent seat to take notes. Maybe one day I'll know him well enough, but I don't foresee that day coming. As for why . . . Even a shark can appreciate beauty."

Itachi's fist thumped harmlessly against the broad chest, though he was still in the clutches of sleep. "N't a shark, Kis'me."

Kisame's fingers found their way back to his scalp and massaged it. He kissed the crown of the smaller man's head. "Of course not, 'Tachi."

"What do you want out of my brother?"

Kisame looked back up at him. "Just a portion of his affection. Last names aren't used in the Akatsuki, so I was clueless as to who he was. He told us when he was twenty and I'd been sleeping with him, as his lover, for almost a year and a half."

"How long were you sleeping with him without being his lover?" Sasuke snapped back icily. 

Kisame frowned. "I knew he was a minor. He was the one who approached me on his birthday. He wanted me. I'd withheld myself from him for a year already and now he was legal. I wasn't going to deny him. The same way you wouldn't deny your blonde friend."

Sasuke's face scrunched up. "I don't like Ino."

"I wasn't talking about her. Besides, InoShikaCho have always been lovers. They'll never stop."

"You mean Naruto?"

"Yeah, the Hokage's son."

"How do you know we're even friends?"

Kisame gave him a deadpan look. "I've known Itachi since he was thirteen. How do you think?"

A lightbulb went off in Sasuke's head. "How much do you know about him?"

"He told me what he considered prevalent. I can't say how much."

"Did you know he was raped?"

"Yes. It was one of the first things he told me."

"Did he tell you who by?"

Kisame stared at him for a moment. "Yes."

"So, you know the name?"

"Yes."

"Tell me, just to confirm it."

Another long stare. "Itachi told me you didn't know. That you still don't know who did it. Or how many times."

Sasuke paled. "There was more than one?"

Kisame nodded slowly. 

"Tell me who."

"No."

"Why not? And if you know who it is, why haven't you killed them yet if you love my brother so much?"

"Firstly, your brother isn't anything of the delicate flower you seem to believe he is. Secondly, what Itachi says, goes. Lastly, even if I wanted to kill the bastard - which I do, with all my heart - I can't. Only Itachi can."

"You expect him to stand up to the person that raped him alone?"

"I  _can't_ intervene. If I kill that person, I get my head chopped off. No amount of Itachi's pleading will change the outcome. I'm also from an entirely separate ANBU. I work for Nagato Uzumaki."

Itachi yawned softly, his first sign of waking up. 

Sasuke eyed the scene one last time. "I wanna talk to you later, Kisame."

* * *

"You heard all of that, didn't you?"

Itachi's onyx eyes blinked open. "Of course I did. I told you, I have a mother's sense for that boy."

Kisame laughed, nuzzling Itachi's hair. 

Itachi smiled, leaning up and kissing the large man. "Thank you for keeping quiet."

"Like I said: what you say, goes."

Itachi grinned. 

* * *

The first person Sasuke seen when he entered the kitchen was Madara. The man was shirtless and covered in hickeys. Something in his powerful back popped as he stretched and he sighed, content, rolling his shoulders. 

"Did you just come home from fucking?"

Madara tossed him a sassy grin over his shoulder. "Getting fucked, actually. What's it to ya?"

Sasuke sputtered. He should have known that answer was coming, but it really just didn't fit. Someone as brash and harsh as Madara  _getting fucked_? "Why is everyone gay?!"

"For the record, I'm not and like you're one to talk." Obito muttered as he entered the room. He, too, walked in without a shirt. He wasn't sporting any bruises, though, so he must have just been on his floor without the "Rin" woman. 

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

Madara laughed and ruffled his hair. "Means you're gay as fuck."

"I'll rip your dick off!"

"Sasuke!"

The teen bolted straight at the sound of Itachi's voice. He stiffly turned to face his (fully dressed, thank  _God_ ) brother. Kisame wasn't far behind, also fully dressed. The large man was impressive in stature, more than Sasuke had realized, and wore his black uniform suit like he belonged in the Secret Service. 

"M-Morning, Aniki!"

Itachi scowled. "Watch your mouth."

Madara and Obito snickered, but it was the father that commented. "Yes Uchiha-haha."

Madara stopped laughing when Itachi's gaze landed on him. Instead, he dropped his coffee mug and bolted. Obito was soon to follow.

 

 


	13. Naruto

Naruto was cleaning a gun when Sasuke slammed the door to his room. The blonde didn't even flinch.

"What brings you here now?"

"It's a fucsking gay pride parade back home, so I thought I'd come here."

"Well, I'm cleaning the artillery, so I won't be too interesting."

"If I wanted interesting, I would have stayed home. Jesus, Madara was just  _covered_ in bruises. Hashirama must be a thorough man."

Naruto snickered. "With Madara he is. I don't even know how many times Hashirama proposed to him."

"Are you gay too, Naruto?"

The barrel snapped back into place and searing blue eyes burned into his soul. "Why do you want to know, Sasuke? Will my sexuality, no matter what it is, change your opinion of me? Will you avoid me if I say I'm gay? Why does this matter so much to you? Aside from the fact you're a homophobe."

"I am not!"

"Then why did you call me at four in the morning to freak out over seeing Itachi sitting on Kisame's lap?"

Sasuke pushed the gun aside and sat down on Naruto's crossed legs. "Kiss me."

"What?"

"Kiss me."

"I'm not deaf. Why me?"

Sasuke bit his lip and looked away. "You're my best friend."  _Plus Madara wouldn't shut up about how you would fuck me if you got the chance._

A philosophical contemplation came to Naruto's face, the thought so deep it couldn't even register on his face. "So?"

"So . . . If I trust anyone with this, it would be the moron that already took my first kiss."

Naruto's eyes were a tidal wave: Sasuke could do nothing but drown in them. "Do you know what you're asking from me?"

The raven smirked and leaned forward. "Yeah. Kiss me."

Blue fire erupted in the blonde's eyes. Sasuke gasped in pain as his back was slammed into the floor before Naruto was on him. 

He barely had a second to recover before Naruto's lips overtook his, forcing him into submission. And he was ruthless about it. 

* * *

Kushina squealed hushedly, but MInato was at her side instantly. 

"Kushina?"

"Finally!" She whisper-yelled, pumping her fist into the air. MInato's head cocked in a childish motion and she gestured to the door to their son's room. Inside, Sasuke was panting hard and his moans kept getting abruptly cut off. 

Minato grinned. "Finally."

* * *

Sasuke's head rolled against the floor in pleasure. Naruto was latched onto him like a leech, trying to suck his soul out through his urethra. 

"God- Naruto-"

The blonde pulled off and was instantly over his lips again, grinding his hips against the ones below him. 

"That's right, Sasuke. You're  _mine_."

* * *

"And who was bitching about me this morning, hmm?"

Why did it have to be Madara to pick him up?

"Shut up."

"So Naruto finally got to you, eh?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, Itachi is going to want an explanation."

"I still want one for his dry humping on the couch."

"He owns all of that shit. If you hadn't noticed, he also has the deed to your life right now. Itachi doesn't owe you shit. You owe him everything."

"Don't tell me shit I already know."

"I see Naruto didn't fuck the attitude out of you like he did Sai."

The interior of the car turned to ice. "He fucked Sai?"

Madara peered at him out of the corner of his eye. "What's it to ya?"

* * *

_"Sasuke. Sasuke, stop."_

_"Why?" He ground down on Naruto, fingers working to undo the blonde's belt._

_"I won't sleep with you just because you're confused."_

_"Oh, but it's fine to kiss me senseless, mark me all up and claim me for yourself?"_

_Naruto growled. "Look, I want you in the worst way, but there are things you need to know if you want to be with me that I can't tell you. I don't, can't, do one-time hook ups."_

_"So you think I'm a slut?"_

_A hand in his hair yanked his head back and tanned lips breathed over his tender neck. A thick moan echoed through him. "You're going to tell me you're not?"_

_He gave an airy laugh. "Only for you."_

_"That's right. Only for me."_

* * *

"He was just such a possessive idiot."

"Well, he's wanted you since grade seven, so I can't blame him for being a little impatient. Hashirama was the same way. They're a lot alike, my Senju idiot and your Namikaze blondie."

"How long have you and Hashirama been together?"

"He kissed me for the first time in grade nine. I tried to break his nose for it." Madara smiled fondly. "He chased me and chased me and chased me until I gave in halfway through grade eleven. He took me back to his house into a section of the compound given to him by his parents. He locked us in and wouldn't let me leave for a week. Even when I could leave, I could hardly walk. He proposed to me for the first time on my eighteenth birthday. He proposed another forty-nine times before I accepted and married his stupid ass. I was twenty five. itachi was two at the time and bore the rings for us."

"Wow." Sasuke looked down. "And you . . . love him?"

"As much as it pains me to say, I fucking adore that moron." Madara smiled at him. "I can't help myself. He's just so . . . perfect. Tanned skin, milky chocolate hair, deep chestnut eyes . . . I love him with the whole my shrivelled, nasty little heart."

 

 

 


	14. Sexual Revolution

Kisame was gone when Sasuke got home. 

"Ah, Sasuke. Home so soon?"

Sasuke plopped himself down beside his brother, resting his head on his lap, legs hanging over the edge of the couch. 

"Are those hickeys?"

"Yeah." Sasuke sighed into the fingers running through his mussed hair. "Naruto."

Itachi tensed. "How much did you see?"

"Nothing. The fucker-"

"Language, Sasuke."

"-wouldn't let me take off his clothes."

"I thought you disliked gays."

"Yeah, well, Madara keeps insisting that I'm in the closet, so I went to go see."

"You went to experiment your sexuality with Naruto?"

"Yeah. It was a mistake."

"Why do you say that?"

"He's already sleeping with Sai."

Itachi laughed. "Oh, I see what this is."

Sasuke's brow arched. "What do you mean?"

"Sasuke, Sai is a very special case. He came from an abusive adoptive family that broke him. When Minato-sama rescued him, he latched onto Naruto to regain his emotional equilibrium. Naruto helped him become a person again. So, naturally, Naruto was the person Sai went to when his sexuality had a chance to emerge. I'm sure that Naruto and Sai do love each other, just not in a fashion you need to get jealous over. They're like brothers. Sai works for Naruto now, though he was adopted by Yamato and lives with him now."

"But they still slept together."

Itachi chuckled, fondness tinting his voice. "Sasuke, I haven't been a virgin since I was seven."

" _. . . Seven . . . ?!_ " Sasuke's voice was a strangled whisper. 

Itachi bent down and kissed his forehead. "Seven. Most of your friends haven't been virgins since they were ten."

"Like . . . Like who?"

"Well, Neji and Hinata, for instance."

"But they're cousins!"

"Neji is such a distant relative that he might as well be from Japan, for all it matters. Mother and Father were closer in blood. Neji's parents were killed shortly after Neji's birth saving Hizashi. So, the Branch brother took Neji in and raised him like his own son."

"How long has Neji known?"

"Neji's known since he was old enough to understand the gravity of the situation, but HIzashi made sure that he never let anything come between them. They are father and son."

"So, Neji's sleeping with Hinata?"

"Yes. They're getting married once she turns eighteen."

"Fuck me."

"But they're besides the point. Are you still jealous of Sai?"

Sasuke pouted, though he would never admit it. "No. Can you tell me what happened to Sai?"

Itachi's face turned grave. "Sai was adopted by Danzo alongside a boy named Shin. Danzo was Hiruzen's advisor at the time, so it was very odd that he never told anyone of his adopted children. When Danzo tried to take Shisui's eyes and revealed himself to be a traitor, Minato had just come into office. Minato killed him himself and offered Tsunade's services to return the eye Danzo had managed to rip out."

"Who is Tsunade?"

"Tsunade is the Hokage's Medical. Essentially, she is their personal doctor and bodyguard. She'd the best doctor in the world. For Minato to offer her to fix Shisui's eye . . . It was an unthinkable gift. If it wasn't for her, Shisui wouldn't have both eyes. But he's only a part of this story."

Itachi took a deep breath. 

"Minato and his Genin team went in to personally search out Danzo's plans. Locked in that basement, they found Sai with the month-old corpse of his brother, Shin. They lived down there from the time Danzo adopted them. There were no windows. There was no plumbing, no amenities. Nothing. Sai told Minato Danzo had come down a month ago and told them to fight to the death and whichever one lived would get to come out of the basement. Shin had pneumonia and died down there, drowned in his own blood."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Sai was a very special case. And even then, Naruto never took off his clothes."

"Naruto keeps his clothes on during sex?"

"He has to."

"Why?"

Itachi sighed. "Inside the Hokage, as a literal and metaphorical sublimation of his power, the Kyuubi is sealed into him or her. When a successor is chosen, half of the Kyuubi is sealed inside the successor. When the Hokage retires or dies, the rest of the Kyuubi is given to the new Hokage."

" . . . That's stupid. A nine-tailed demon fox?"

Itachi scowled. "Kyuubi is a powerful demon. He could easily level the city if the Hokage were to give him permission."

"Uh-huh." Sasuke leveled him with a look of disbelief. "Whatever you say, Aniki."

"Well, this seal on Naruto's skin is the reason you've never seen him swim. The reason you never will."

"Huh?" That grabbed the younger's attention again."

"The seal is sacred. Only a predecessor, a lover and the Medical are allowed to see it. If a lover decides they want to break up or leave, the Hokage has to kill that person. As well as anyone who's seen the seal who shouldn't. Kyuubi's been known to overwhelm his host simply to kill people with curious eyes."

"So, that's what Naruto meant, then."

"You know, he's been in love with you for a long time. If he were to sleep with you, he would want desperately to do it properly. He couldn't live with his clothes on, but he also wouldn't want to bind you to him forever at the mere sighting of the seal."

" . . . Even if I wanted him to?"

"Sasuke?"

"I want to sleep with him, 'Tachi-nii."

"You might, but do you want to be bound to him forever? Even when he'd retired the position of Hokage and the Kyuubi's cage is empty, the seal is still burned onto his skin."

Sasuke met his brother's concerned dark eyes, his voice speaking from his heart rather than his mind. "Yes."


	15. Learning To Love

Itachi told Madara, Izuna, Obito and Shisui about Sasuke's decision. The men and woman that the others were dating/engaged to/married to also started showing up more. 

The first to appear was Madara's husband, Hashirama. 

* * *

Sasuke yawned as he walked past the living room to the kitchen. 

"So you're Sasuke. You're blessed like Itachi, then, and got your mother's looks."

A tall man with long, straight dark chocolate hair and milky mocha skin was sitting on a chair with a sleeping Madara curled on his lap. He was eating a bagel. He offered a smile bright enough to rival Naruto's. 

"Sorry, I should introduce myself. My name's Hashirama Senju. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Hashirama's smile impossibly brightened. Madara shifted on his lap, curling in closer and nuzzling against his shoulder, almost purring. Hashirama's smile became softer, more content than excited, and he curled his arms tighter around his husband. He kissed the Uchiha's forehead before hooking his arm under his legs and standing, Madara draped effortlessly across a strong torso and powerful arms. 

"Sorry. I gotta take him back to bed or he'll get cranky." Hashirama winked. "Nice to meet you, Sasuke. I hope I can talk to you properly later today."

"Okay."

"Hashi'." Madara groaned, fingers trailing up to his shoulder. 

"Shh. I know, baby. Just give me a moment." The Senju whispered back, bending down to connect for a kiss. 

Watching them leave, Sasuke just shook his head. The world kept getting weirder.

* * *

The second person he met was Izuna's husband. It figured those two stupid brothers would find two equally stupid brothers to fall in love with. 

* * *

"Sasuke!"

"Izuna?" The man was never this bright, despite being arguably the nicest (Itachi aside) of the Uchiha men.

"There's someone I want you to meet!"

"Who is it?"

Izuna dragged him into the living room. Another tall man was standing in the centre, his hair a white mass of surprisingly untangled spikes held back by a thick silver band with a tribal leaf etched onto it. His eyes were a sharp, intense red. Sasuke realized he must be an albino. Three scars were red and prominent on his face, two on opposite cheeks and one running off his chin. He was in dark denim jeans, a black turtleneck and a sapphire vest with a hood surrounded by startling white fur. 

"This is the man I'm married to, Tobirama Senju."

"You're Sasuke, correct?" The man's voice was a deep and commanding timbre, unlike Hashirama, who was warm and open. 

"Yes. NIce to meet you."

"Same to you." He turned to Izuna. "Now, where is your brother? We were supposed to meet today."

izuna rolled his eyes. "Madara's in bed with Hashirama. It can wait."

Tobirama's narrow eyes narrowed. "Then why am I here?"

"Because I am."

The younger Senju brother heaved a burdened sigh and let himself fall into the couch, rubbing his face. 

Sasuke inched away from what was guaranteed sex. 

* * *

Shisui had an abysmal taste in partners. 

* * *

Sasuke tactfully avoided Shisui, who was sitting in the lap of a larger man who was completely covered. He was practically laying on the man, toying with the short black strands of hair on top of his head and occasionally laying kisses on the mask.

"Tobi, I don't care what you look like."

So that was the man's name. Sasuke kept up his peeking.

The man in the black jacket shifted, his embroidered red clouds striking against the dark backdrop, his orange mask even more startling. 

"That's what you say, but you haven't seen Tobi yet." His voice dropped. "Tobi doesn't wanna scare away the Beauty."

Shisui giggled and kissed his mask again, moving down to kiss at his corded neck. "One can only know beauty once they've seen it. You must have first seen it in the mirror."

The Akatsuki member huffed, but the lawyer grinned. 

"We can take it as slow as you want, Tobi, I don't mind. But don't mess around because you think I'll be freaked out by a few scars. If Itachi can love Kisame, why is it so hard for me to love you?"

Tobi sighed. "Okay. Tobi just needs some time."

Shisui smiled gently. "That, I can work with."

* * *

Sasuke sought out Itachi, but he found his brother laying on the floor in front of a flat screen, sound asleep. Thick black bags were under his eyes and he'd obviously been here all night. Gently, Sasuke pulled his brother's phone out of his grip. 

_"What's wrong, Itachi?"_

"Good to know you're concerned. That makes me feel better about you."

_"Sasuke?"_

"Yeah. My brother's passed out here on the floor. Come here and take care of him."

The man on the other end of the line chuckled.  _"Is he okay?"_

"The only thing he'd missing is you, Kisame."

_"I'll be there in five minutes."_

* * *

Sasuke walked himself to the lobby, fully intent to get a coffee and a ride over to Naruto's. In line, he met Obito. 

"What brings you out of the cave?" Madara's son asked. 

"They think just because I'm . . . accepting . . . that they can just PDA wherever they want!"

Obito chuckled. "Trust me, I know. Since you're meeting all of our lovers, would you mind meeting mine? I'll drive you to Naruto's."

"Okay."

Obito lead him back to a table where a beautiful, if rather plain-looking, girl sat. Her hair was milk chocolate and straight, only coming down to her shoulders. Her eyes were an addictive hazel and she had two purple rectangles on her cheeks. 

"Rin, this is Itachi's little brother, Sasuke. Sasuke, this is my fiance, Rin Nohara."

"Pleasure to meet you!" She stood and offered a hand. Sasuke shook it, smiling. Rin seemed to be gentle and affectionate by nature, but without the intensity of Naruto or Hashirama. Much more like Minato.

"You too, Miss Nohara."

"Aww. Aren't you sweet. You can just call me Rin. We'll be family soon anyways."

Sasuke blinked. "Right. Fiance."

Rin laughed. "I work for Kakashi, so you don't have to worry too much about me living with you."

"We're getting a house away from either compound." Obito elaborated. "It just makes it easier for us."

"Oh. Okay." Sasuke smiled. "Well, I hope you can put up with him."

Rin laughed again. "We were on Minato-sama's Genin team with Kakashi, so I think we've learned to cope."

* * *

When Obito finally dropped him off at Naruto's, Kushina was holding dinner for him. She smiled widely when he walked in the door. 

"Sasuke! I though you might come."

He smiled back shyly. "Yeah. Can I stay?"

"Absolutely! Naruto's in his room, but you can stay as long as you'd like."

"Thank you . . . Kushina-haha."

She beamed so brightly the warmth followed him into Naruto's room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	16. Week 1: Complication

"Sasuke, have you seen Itachi?"

Sasuke looked up from his math textbook. "No. Why?"

Madara shook his head. "No reason."

Sasuke frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Well . . . "

"Just tell me."

"Itachi's been missing for two days."

* * *

Shisui was on the phone, a deep frown marring his youthful face. "Okay."

Sasuke watched him, angrily pacing.

Deep red flashed through Shisui's eyes and they started to burn. "I understand. Thank you."

Obito opened the door to the room, closing it gently. Shisui glanced up at him, his frown easing into confusion. The elder cousin raised a small parcel, his face pale. "It's from Fugaku."

Sasuke growled. "Play it."

* * *

_Itachi was kneeling on the ground. His eyes were bleary and unfocused, darting around as if trying to make out the figures before him._

_Fugaku sat behind him, petting the raven hair and playing with the loose lengthy strands._

_"Hello Madara, Izuna, Obito, Shisui. Perhaps you even have little Sasuke in the room as well." He smiled cruelly. "If so, you might wish to remove his precious little being from the room."_

Shisui's glanced over at him, but the scowl on the younger's face was enough to dissuade the suggestion on his lips.

_"I'm glad to have your attention once again. Now, say hello to the camera, Itachi."_

_The dazed man looked unseeingly into the lens. His eyes were a distant grey over their normal philosophical onyx. Red flickered across the iris, as if somewhere inside, Itachi was trying to escape._

_"Won't say it, will you? Take off his clothes."_

_Men came from either side to strip away the threadbare clothes. He immediately started to shiver, visible goosebumps appearing on his skin. The men positioned the unresisting man with a couple of slaps and a kick to his ribs. Itachi did nothing more than grunt and whimper. One of the men got behind him._

_At this, Itachi seemed to come more aware. "No . . . No . . . ! No! NO!"_

Sasuke nearly vomited. Madara barred his teeth at the screen. Shisui stared, horrified. Obito hissed. Izuna grimaced. 

_Gasps, thick with pain, echoed in the room they filmed in. Blood ran down Itachi's cream-pale thighs. His gentle hands were scrabbling at the ground, trying to get away. The other man slammed his foot down on his curled hand. Itachi's scream was blood-curdling._

_"See what kind of a man your General is? What a pathetic son." Fugaku sighed wearily. "If he wasn't such a slut, I might have killed him already. But he services the men so well."_

Madara nearly smashed the screen, but Minato's strong and sudden hand interrupted the attack.

_"I want a trade." Fugaku continued, pulling Itachi's head up to his lap by his hair. "As good as Itachi is, I would give him back to you. In return, I want Sasuke. If I don't get Sasuke within the week, you'll get another tape. Next time, Itachi will suffer more."_

The tape ended. 

Naruto had a bowl in front of Sasuke before he threw up just in time to catch it. 

Madara was nearly salivating with rage. "I'll kill him. I'll make him choke on his own dick and I'll cauterize his asshole."

"Right now, we need to care for and protect Sasuke." Minato said softly. "Tobirama is already sensing for Itachi's chakra. We're looking for him already. You need to look after yourselves."

"I need to be out there." Madara snarled. 

Minato scowled and it darkened the room. "You're the ANBU General right now,  _Madara_ , and you better act like it because I need your help."

Something clicked in Madara and he straightened out. "I need to see Hashirama."

"Go."

* * *

"Sasuke?"

The raven looked up at him, face blank. "Naruto?"

The blonde gathered him into his arms. "I'll stay with you. No one is going to get you. Not now, not ever."

Sasuke started to sob, falling into Naruto's arms. 

Naruto and Minato looked at each other and nodded. 

Fugaku was officially a dead man.

 

 

 


	17. Week 2: Failure

For as long as he could remember, Itachi had failed the ones he loved. His father was the first one. Itachi wasn't large nor particularly intimidating. He inherited his mother's feminine looks as well as her gentle demeanour. He was kind and caring by nature; a woman. 

The second person he had failed was Shisui. Danzo, the traitorous wretch that he was, had managed to steal Shisui's eye right out from under him. He should have known Danzo would come. Once Shisui unlocked his Mangekyo, Itachi should have been there to safeguard him, to make sure no one would try to take it from him. He hadn't been here. 

The third was his mother. He could tell she was heartbroken by his withdrawal from her. He knew he broke her heart, but he reasoned with himself that it was for the greater good. That she would thank him for it later. In the end, it drove his mother back to Japan. He doubted she would ever willingly set foot in America again, let alone come back to Leaf and the politics of Konoha. 

The fourth was Obito. Itachi knew Fugaku was losing it when Obito was captured by the South Americans. He knew Fugaku's judgement couldn't be trusted, but he let Fugaku walk away from his brother's son and leave him to die. Itachi and Kisame had wound up saving the older man, but it had been too late. One of Obito's eyes had been gouged out of it's socket, leaving a bloody and mangled mess. If it wasn't for Nagato's kindness, he didn't know what he would have done. 

The fifth was Kisame. During his time in the Akatsuki, he had never let on in the slightest that he was working for the Hokage, let alone tell them that he was an Uchiha. Kisame had been his partner and slowly, he had fallen in love with the man. Itachi was no virgin when he entered the Akatsuki, but he had never given himself to someone quite the way he let Kisame completely wreck him. That night, he had sobbed and clung, begging the larger man to never let him go. Kisame told him he loved him. All of his lies to the larger man hit him then. He was lucky that Kisame had forgiven him, but Itachi had to go to extraordinary lengths to get him to come back into his arms. 

The sixth was Madara. The man had been there for him since he joined the Academy and had been his guiding light in the initial swamps of his beginning days. Yet, he allowed himself to get humiliated and broken down by Fugaku with worrying regularity. Madara was always there to pick him up. Madara cared for him and nursed him back into walking after Fugaku's time with him. He was too weak for Madara's care. He didn't deserve the devout attentions. 

The seventh was Kakashi. Kakashi had been his ANBU Captain (working directly for Kushina, the First Advisor) and had witness some of the tragedy that Itachi's life had become. When Madara was gone or busy, Kakashi had made it a habit of his to whisk Itachi away on "ANBU business" and patch him up. 

The eighth was Tenzou. He was on the squad with Itachi and Kakashi. The man was already worried, but when Kakashi told him what was really going on, he went into full mother mode. Itachi regretted stressing him with a painful intensity. 

The ninth was Nagato. Nagato had trusted him enough to let him join the Akatsuki and he had sold them out to the Hokage. Despite Nagato's forgiveness and the ultimate survival of the Akatsuki, he still felt guilty. Nothing would erase Nagato's face the day Minato walked in on their meeting. 

The tenth . . . The tenth was Sasuke.

* * *

Itachi's head was slammed against the wall again. This man was particularly rough. Apparently he liked the sounds of pain. However, with the amount of drugs necessary to keep Itachi down, he barely felt what was going on. It was only after he was chained away, locked in his chakra-sealed room and bound, that the agony hit him.

His whole lower body was caked in days worth of blood, semen and filth. The room he was tossed carelessly in was freezing, the concrete solid and unforgiving. He tried his hardest to keep his pain to himself, to keep the wrecked sobs of pain internal, but he only possessed so much strength. 

His body throbbed with each heartbeat, his "punishments" catching up with him and each black bruise loudly remind him they were there with each small movement. His broken fingers were stiff and bleeding. Another man, earlier, had decided to step on his fingers again. He remembered blacking out on that one. Shards of bone were not piercing the skin and he could swear infection was starting. 

They'd broken one of his shins and four of his ribs, too. He was also fairly certain he had a concussion. He wished desperately to be anywhere but where he was. 

"Kisame." 

He didn't think it would sound as broken it was. 

"Kisame, I'm so sorry."

Saying it made him feel better for the betrayal. He knew Kisame would never blame him, that Kisame would be one of the first to care for him and protect him, but his ever-present self-loathing reared up. 

He knew he shouldn't cry: they hadn't given him any water since his arrival and it would lead to dehydration and hallucination, but he couldn't help himself. 

"Kisame, I'm so, so sorry. I'm in so much pain. Please, please . . . "

The door opened again and he realized that means he was awake through the night. Panic unlike any other overwhelmed his emotional self and he scrambled away from the coming men. Tears mixed with shame and disgust. He screamed when they grabbed his hair, dragging him by it. 

"Kisame! Please! Kisame, I'm so sorry! Kisame!  _HELP ME!_ "

* * *

The next video came. Sasuke almost passed out. Madara paid close attention, almost tallying the price he would make Fugaku pay once he found him. This time, Kakashi, Kisame and a large, pale man with red hair and strange purple eyes ringed in black were there to watch. Kisame introduced him as Nagato Uzumaki. Naruto sat beside Sasuke, his arm wrapped around him and a bowl sitting between Sasuke's feet. Minato was standing behind Kakashi and Obito, one hand on each of their shoulders. 

_Fugaku smiled cruelly into the camera. "I knew you wouldn't. You're very cowardly, Madara. Can't you pay the ransom for your leader? Would you have left me like that?" He chuckled. "Well, I can't blame you. He'd been such a whore lately. I can understand why you wouldn't want him."_

_Different men than the original two dragged Itachi in, clean but molted in bruises and discolourations. His hair was thickly matted and dull. His stomped hand was oozing some thick, green-yellow liquid from a hand that now resembled cauliflower. Something white was stuck to the side of his chest. They dropped him and the skin shifted, blood oozing out._

"That's bone." Nagato whispered, strange purple eyes wide in shock. "That's his rib sticking out."

_"Do you like his new look?" Fugaku laughed. "We don't have to drug him as much anymore. Do we, Itachi-boy? You're so docile for us. We just have to inject enough to keep your Sharingan down, don't we, darling? Boys? How about another show? For the guests."_

_The two men moved Itachi into position. Grey eyes went wide._

_"No. No. No! Stop!" Itachi struggled against the larger men, though they kept him down by holding down his hair._

_"Hey, do you think both of us could fit?" One of the men asked. The other grinned._

_"No way to know 'cept try."_

_The moved Itachi again, ignoring his mantra. When they had him sandwiched between them, they both thrust into his body._

Sasuke vomited. 

_Itachi caught his breath, trying to keep another scream under control. Red flashed in his eyes again, the pain causing a singular moment of clarity. Itachi barred his teeth, grabbing the man above him with his crippled hand. He dove down and sunk his teeth into the lower man's neck. The thug cried out in pain and got progressively louder as Itachi pulled on the trapped flesh._

"Fugaku was stupid to lessen the dose." Nagato whispered. "Sasori trained him in chemical resistance. He can live through Sasori's own poisons."

_It was with a muffled roar that Itachi ripped the man's throat out, snarling as he spit the meat out. He then fisted the other man's hair and tore out a chunk of his scalp._

Madara and Kisame were on the edge of their seat, practically vibrating.

_Itachi roared again, though this time it was unclear whether it was in fury or agony. The display obviously startled Fugaku though, because he called for six other men to come in and restrain him._

_Once Itachi was gone, Fugaku looked back to the camera, composure in place._

_"Looks like we have another week to train him. My demands are the same. Give me Sasuke and you get Itachi back. You also never have to hear from me again. Goodnight, gentlemen."_

The screen went dark. 

 


	18. Week 3: Come Get Me

"Sasuke, listen to me."

"No! I deserve to see what's happening in there! Itachi's there in the first place because of me."

"That's a fucking lie and you know it."

"You don't think I can handle it, don't you?"

"Don't make me the fucking enemy."

Something in the blonde's voice made Sasuke shrink back. They'd been on opposite sides of an argument before, but nothing like this. Naruto was  _angry_ and that made it scary. 

" . . . Sorry."

He took a deep breath, taking Sasuke's hand. "I've seen a lot of crazy and horrible shit. I'm the Hokage's  _son_ , his  _successor_. I've ripped out people's entrails. I've never seen something like that. So, instead, I'm going to train you. Once the video for this week is done, Kisame is going to join us and teach you kenjutsu."

"Kenjutsu?"

"He's going to teach you how to wield a sword. A katana, to be exact."

* * *

Madara made Sasuke attend school. The man was as taut as a bowstring, wound around himself in rage that was eating him alive. Sasuke saw Hashirama everyday now, along with Tobirama, the ever-childish Tobi and Kisame. Obito would disappear for long periods of time. He figured it was to meet with Rin, who was part of Kakashi's search squad. 

Tobirama always came at three, just after Sasuke got out of school. He'd eat dinner with them, then take Izuna back with him to wherever the Senju compound was. Izuna would return the next morning, picked up by Obito, and work to fill Itachi's place in his company. It wouldn't do to have the head of a megacorporation suddenly disappear. If that happened, the public would get a hold of it and their weakness would be revealed. 

Naruto practically lived in Sasuke's room now. 

* * *

It was on a walk home from school (Obito busy with the search effort and Naruto filling in for his father) that The true gravity of his situation hit him. Yes, he had witnessed violence, from Itachi no less and seen Itachi's ruthless rape, but he never felt it so closely before. 

He was walking home, mind flooded from school and body exhausted from the rigorous physical training Naruto and Kisame were rigidly enforcing. He was grabbed and before he knew it, pressed against a man that, at that moment, rivalled Kisame. He was dragged back into the building gap before he could cry out and six other men appeared. 

"What do we have here?" One of them sneered, toothless. 

"Got a pretty one this time, eh?" The man holding him buried his face in his neck, smelling him. Sasuke resisted the impulses to vomit and faint, not particularly in that order. 

"That we do, boys."

"Don't you know not to touch things that don't belong to you?"

Sasuke barely had time to recognize the soft, gentle voice under the emotionless steel before one man went crashing into one of his friends. The others spun around. They only got to taste their own blood, HInata's palm striking into their solar plexus and shattering their ribs.

She flipped up her first victim and over him, kicking him solidly in the back and sending him flailing into the man opposite him. 

The fourth man snarled and she hissed back. 

"Air Palm!"

With a burst of windy fury, he was sent sailing, taking out the last two men. 

"Sasuke, duck."

The Uchiha did as he was told with startling speed. His nerves felt like they were singing with energy and the world around him was slowing. Hinata steadied, the veins around her eyes bulging before she shot forward. 

"Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms!"

The last man, the man who had grabbed him, smashed into the brick of the house across the backyards, his head exploding spectacularly upon impact all over the window and brickwork. 

Hinata huffed, standing back up straight. She, too, materialized a gun, shooting each molester and rapist in the head  mercilessly. 

"You're lucky Itachi isn't here." Sasuke heard her whisper to one of the men still conscious enough to look up at her. "The death I'm giving you is more than you will ever deserve."

She shot him too. 

* * *

The blast doors to Itachi's floor opened at his touch. 

"I hope to see you in class tomorrow, Sasuke. Good evening."

"Hinata, wait."

The walk home had been silent, Sasuke's mind spinning wildly, grasping desperately for treads to understand what he was just witnessed her doing. She hadn't paid him any mind, just grabbing his hand - with the same hand she had used to shatter a man's whole rib cage - and walked him home. During the long elevator ride up to the penthouse, he was observed her. She was calm and stoic, gentle and kind. Was she really the killer he had seen between the shops? Or was that an alter-ego she made, one that came out when her mafia work was involved? Would that even count in non-mafia killings?

She turned back to look at him, however. She looked at his startled expression and sighed, walking back to him and pulling him into a tight hug. 

"I don't like killing. I don't like having to be this way. If I wasn't the firstborn, I would leave the mafia business altogether. I just don't want this to fall to Hanabi without any supports. I don't like violence and I had a really hard time learning how to fight. I try to avoid it as much as I can, try to keep it as clean as I can. I have never liked this, and I probably never will. You don't have to be afraid of me, Sasuke. Or of us. We don't  _enjoy_ killing. But, it is a necessity in our line of work. That's all you have to understand."

She smiled warmly and fondly at him before walking herself back to the elevator. Sasuke stared after her, awestruck and, strangely, touched. 

She smiled again and waved as the elevator doors closed. Maybe he would ask her to walk home with him more often. Hinata might be more interesting than he originally thought. 

 

 

 


	19. Week 4: First and Second

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I added a whole bunch of new tags and rewrote the summary. They're just a little late . . . *slinks off*
> 
> Also, in case I'm not exactly clear with the timelines, each chapter since Itachi's abduction represents a week.

Itachi as brand new to the ANBU forces. Kushina, when she had introduced him into them, had told him he was the youngest to ever enter. General service in ANBU was not a requirement, as all those trained would serve with their clan ANBU, but Itachi thought that it was best to connect with the Hokage before he succumbed to his father's demands. 

"Thank you, Kushina-sama."

The redheaded woman smiled fondly at him. "Don't worry about it, Itachi-kun. You'll fit in wonderfully. I've got you with my personal favourite team. A member of theirs just left to join Sakumo's clan ANBU. His name was Raido. Come, I'll introduce you."

* * *

Kushina was pleasant to work for. She delivered each order directly, like the Hokage and bore a stern, motherly countenance. Itachi liked her and her small son, who ran around the ANBU base terrorizing the shinobi. They laughed him off or played with him, generous with the future Red General as if he was their own son. 

The men who would become close as family and operated the squad he joined were Kakashi Hatake, their leader, Tenzou Yamato, the second in command and Genma Shiranui. 

"Boys, this is your new little birdie." Kushina smiled brightly, much like Naruto was prone to, and ushered the Uchiha into the barracks. 

"Genma, no." Tenzou pre-warned. 

Genma closed his mouth and pouted. "You're absolutely no fun."

Kakashi laughed, kneeling down before Itachi. "Welcome to the Wolfpack."

Itachi smiled gently. "Hello."

"His codename is Crow." Kushina added, patting the small boy on the head and turning to leave. "Name: Itachi Uchiha. Age: ten."

"You're ten?!" 

"Genma, use your tact, for fuck's sake!" Tenzou snapped, elbowing the smaller man. 

"OW! For fuck's sake, fine!" He slunk off to his own corner, pouting harder. 

Tenzou took Itachi's hand and lead him to his bed. "Don't worry. They're both perverts, but I'll keep them off you."

Itachi laughed lowly. "Thank you, Tenzou-san."

The large teen ruffled his hair. "Get settled in and I'll show you around."

* * *

Three years later seen Itachi, Tenzou and Kakashi wrapped in each other's arms. 

Itachi was seated on Kakashi, held up only by the man's strength. His hair was loose, head tilted to the side and vulnerable to Kakashi's possessive and amourous attacks. tenzou was in front of him, tongue down his throat and thrusting lazily. 

Itachi bounced with each pump of Kakashi's hips, his body undulating against Tenzou as he rocked their hips together. 

"So gorgeous. Both of you." Kakashi panted into his ear, one hand tangled in his lengthy hair. 

"So gooood~" Itachi slurred, dizzy with pleasure. His fingers threaded through Tenzou's hair, caressing the nape of his neck. The large man purred under the affection, nuzzling into the pale skin before him. "Love you both."

"We love you too, 'Tachi." Tenzou whispered, licking along the seal of Kakashi's lips against his skin. "We'll take care of you."

Kakashi smirked devilishly. "All of you."

"Keep it down! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

Itachi's head lolled back and he moaned louder. 

Kakashi chuckled darkly. "Genma's not getting any sleep tonight. That's for sure."

* * *

When Itachi kept limping in, Kakashi made sure to intercept him before he got into the rooms. 

"What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Itachi."

The teen finally looked up to him, eyes ringed crimson from unshed tears. His hair hid bruises and friction burns. "Don't worry about me."

Kakashi scooped him up, gentle and tender, before taking off. 

* * *

He'd never been to Kakashi's actual home, let alone his bed. But, that's where he was now. Kakashi carefully undressed him, observing and noting every bruise and burn. Then, very carefully, he examined Itachi's entrance. 

"Holy shit."

His gentle fingers swept airily over the torn and abused flesh. 

"How can you even walk?"

Itachi huffed and hid his face. "It's not the first time."

"Who's doing this to you?"

"I can't tell you."

"Itachi." His voice was firm. 

"I didn't want you to know. Ever."

"Is this why you keep disappearing?"

"Yes."

"Do you have people to take care of you?"

"Usually it's my uncle. He wasn't there this time."

Kakashi picked him up again, cradling him like a little boy. "When he's not there, you call me. I'll take care of you. You don't have to hide this from me."

"Can . . . Can I ask something of you?"

Kakashi pulled the tie from his hair, carding his fingers through it. "Anything."

"Can you be gentle with me?"

"Wouldn't dream of anything else." They were always gentle with him. They overloaded his senses, but not with pain. 

"Don't tell anyone, please. Not even Tenzou."

Kakashi sighed. "Fine. I'll keep it to myself. But I want you to understand that if TEnzou figures this out on his own, I'm not going to lie to him about it."

Itachi took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay."

Kakashi held him until late into the next morning, hands calm and tender, easing away painful memories and renewing the skin under it. Itachi slept solidly through it.

* * *

He felt large hands move him, kick his legs open and position his arms. Sharp pain flashed up from his hand. Sleepily, he looked at it. Why was it all swollen and broken? Was the thick whitish-green mass around his fingers advanced stages of infection?

"Kakashi? Where did you go?"

_Bright light blinded him for a moment, but he recognized the lens of a camera._

_"Kakashi?"_

_The man behind him thrust in. Scabs broke open and lethargic blood dripped down, pale skin unrecognizable under all of the thousands of molted and swollen colours._

* * *

* * *

Sasuke awoke to sobs. 

 _Itachi-nii._  

He rushed out of his room, running with speed Kisame had trained into him this last week. He stopped, suddenly cautious. That baritone wasn't Itachi's. In between quiet wails of agony, there were words. 

"I'm sure that's not what he meant, Kakashi."

"How?!" Grief ripped through the sob again. "He called my  _name_ , Tenzou.  _He called out for me_."

Sasuke peered around the corner, watching as his English teacher sat on the loveseat where Itachi had held him. The white-haired man was sobbing into clenching hands, fingers digging into his scalp. Another, broader man was sitting next to him, stroking down his back. His hair was short and brown, his eyes almond-shaped and black. His mouth was downturned, but in worry over anger. 

"He called out for me, dammit. I should have  _done_ something."

"You're not alone in that. I listened to him too. If anybody's guilty, we all are."

Kakashi sat up a little straighter, wiping at his face and staring at nothing for a long time, Tenzou's gaze fixed on him. 

"He looked so  _confused_ , like he couldn't understand where I'd gone. As if it was me there with him, throwing him around. He was so docile, too. When he thought I was there with him. If he'd have been in any state to move himself, I'm sure he would have leaned into their hands. It was after . . . " He took a deep, shuddering breath. " . . . after he realized it  _wasn't_ me that he started to fight, to move and squirm."

"After last week, are you surprised?"

Kakashi looked sharply to him, eyes glistening in betrayal. 

Tenzou shook his head. "I didn't mean it like that. You said he ripped out a guy's throat two weeks ago. Last week he was unconscious for it. Are you surprised he's on enough drugs to hallucinate us? You? Are you surprised his consciousness would dig up pleasurable sexual memories to combat his abuse?"

"What if that's not what it is? What if he's associating us with this?"

Tenzou shook his head gently. "No. He underwent abuse like this long before we came into his life and he still had it in him to give himself to us willingly. He still  _wanted_ sex, touch. He's in a relationship with Kisame, too. He has it in him to overcome this. Always has. Even now, I bet he doesn't feel half of what happens. Some of it he probably doesn't even remember. When we get him back, he won't look at you or think of you the same way he does those bastards. And he never will."

Kakashi smiled weakly, his whole body weary and exhausted. "I hope to God you're right."

* * *

"Mind if I join you?"

Sasuke didn't bother to look up. 

A tanned arm wrapped itself around his shoulders. "What's on your mind?"

"I seen Kakashi crying this morning."

Naruto's 'class idiot' facade fell away, and his true, serious self came forth. "Kakashi and Itachi have a lot of person history from when they served under my mother. They were a really tight-knit unit. Itachi was even romantically involved with Kakashi and Tenzou, apparently. They're still really good friends, though, even though it ended when Itachi joined Akatsuki."

Sasuke looked down at his hands. "I got so mad at him for all his secrets, all his lies. Now . . . I just want him home."

Naruto pulled him in close. "I know. Dad's in Nepal right now searching for him. The top Sensors are screening for him. We'll find him. Don't worry."

"The man with Kakashi said this wasn't the first time something like this has happened to him."

Naruto sighed into his hair. "It's not. Itachi and rape have a long history."

"How long?"

"Your fourth birthday."

 

 

 

 

 

 


	20. Week 5: Truth In Love

Sasuke was up at an ungodly hour. 

Wandering tired, but sleepless, into the kitchen, he spotted Madara nursing a cold cup of black coffee. The man's hair was a wreck, more than normal. He stared vacantly into the cup, so still that the liquid within didn't even move. He looked up to meet Sasuke's eyes, though. 

"You look like shit."

Sasuke snorted. "Look who's talking."

Madara rolled his eyes. "Hn."

_Now I see why Naruto always got pissed when I did that._

"What's keeping you up?"

Madara turned to glare at him. "What the fuck do you think? Isn't Itachi the same reason you're not sleeping?"

Sasuke sat down next to him, gentling his approach. "How bad was this video?"

Madara's eyes scorched red and he began to vibrate. What Sasuke mistook for calm was, in fact, shock. His eyes pulsed like a warning light, strange black designs appearing in the light. The hands holding the cup crushed it. The porcelain shattered, slicing through the skin of Madara's quaking palms. 

"Sometimes," Madara's voice was quiet and calm, unphased by the violence of the coming seizure, "I think how much better Itachi's life would be if I had ignored his request and just killed Fugaku."

"Madara?" Sasuke stood up, startled and scared by his uncle's seizing. "Madara? Madara?!"

"You know, I'm not even sorry for you." Madara stared, unblinking at him. "I'm not sorry you've had to go through this, Sasuke. I'm sorry I let Itachi do this alone."

"Madara!" Sasuke caught the man as he gave out, eyes rolling into the back of his head and body convulsing. " _Madara!_ "

* * *

Sasuke watched anxiously as Madara twitched, his whole body tensing as if for a fight. Another pass of a tanned hand through his tangled hair and he calmed. 

"You don't have to hide, Sasuke."

The teen inched into the bedroom, nervously meeting the warm, dark eyes of Hashirama Senju. He smiled and beckoned the boy closer. Sasuke obeyed, letting the Senju leader settle him between his legs, head resting against a strong, muscled thigh. His free hand came to the young raven's head and began to pet him much the same manner as he was Madara. 

"It took me a long time to get Madara, you know."

Sasuke nodded vaguely, more focused on the pleasant sensation of Hashirama's hand in his hair, massaging his scalp. 

"I loved him so much when we were kids, but I thought I just really wanted to be friends with him. Chased him all those years, only loved him more. He was such a hardass, such a pain in the ass. He was so afraid of loving me. Fugaku had it drilled into him that homosexuality was horrible and terrible. He told him that sex between men was painful and that everyone would know. I found all of this out after I married the man, mind. He told me on the car ride to our honeymoon destination. We were driving up to a small beach, rocky and secluded but with fine, fine sands, when he told me all of this. He didn't look at me the whole time he spoke."

Sasuke was nearly purring. He was rubbing into the hand, a soft smile on his face and sleepiness overcoming his senses. Hashirama had a kind of peace about him the same way Naruto did. When they were still, they were like a warm, sunlit day. Their words were easy, warm breezes. Pressing close to their bodies was like nestling down into a soft bed of long grass. Lately, wrapping himself around Naruto was the only way to sleep. If Hashirama was Madara's Naruto, he could understand why Madara loved him so much, but was so afraid to in the beginning. Only Hashirama and Naruto could be so perfect and still exist. 

Hashirama, however, smelled more earthen than Naruto's sea breeze. It was comforting to be able to tell the difference. 

Somewhere, in the back of Sasuke's head, he was panicing. He could no longer tell his own sexuality. All of his thoughts circled around Naruto, wanting to be with him all the time. But, under the placating and gentled hand of Hashirama, he was having trouble thinking about much of anything. 

"I never gave up on him. Even after all these years of fighting and crying and literally trying to kill me, I'd never let him go. Sometimes, I think he hates me as much as he loves me. It's so hard to tell; he keeps it all to himself. It's when he's like this, though, that I can really tell. He needs me,  _wants me_ , more than anything else in this world. He only calms for me, only finds peace when he's with me. These past weeks have broken him down to his barest. He's told me everything he ever wanted to hide, barred himself just so he doesn't feel so horrible. I've taken a lot of the Uchiha command on myself. He doesn't know what to do. He doesn't know where Fugaku is to rip out his lungs. He doesn't know where Itachi is to rescue him. He doesn't have a grip on himself, let alone try to control the family. He's a brilliant actor, but there's only so long he can keep that up."

He felt Hashirama shift, then the man released a deep chuckle. 

"You're more docile than usual, Sasuke. Am I really that calming?"

"Yes."

Hashirama just chuckled again and continued his stroking. 

"Go to sleep, little one."

Sasuke was just on the edge of awareness when he heard Madara whisper. 

"Okay."


	21. Week 6: The Roots Of A Great Tree

Over the week, Sasuke had become increasingly close to Hashirama. Naruto would smile knowingly seeing them together, but he was so rarely home. He had to run Konoha in Minato's place as he scoured Nepal. Kushina was running her ANBU ragged, so she had very little time to help. 

This time, when he entered Itachi's floor, Hashirama was sitting at the far end of a couch, Madara's head cradled in his lap. He waved goodbye to the friends that had walked him home (which had expanded notably beyond Hinata) and closed the door. 

"How's he doing today?"

"The more time I spend with him, the better he is." Hashirama replied, smiling invitingly. Sasuke took the bait, setting his bag down by the coffee table and nuzzling into the warmth Hashirama exuded. "He's been really good today."

"Has a doctor looked at him?"

"I flooded him with my chakra the moment I got to him, and I didn't feel any lasting damage. He just needs to rest."

"Chakra?"

Hashirama looked down at the boy. "Hmm. I suppose no one has told you about that. It's very special and only we know how to use it."

"Hn?"

He shook his head. "You're just like Madara."

"Tell me?"

"Chakra is essentially energy blood. Everybody has it and it runs much the same way your circulatory system does. With special training, people can access it and use it do anything from growing a tree to burning down a city. I, personally, can grow trees."

"Knock off the shit, Hashi-oji."

"All things have chakra. My chakra is nearly identical to Nature or Sage Chakra. With it, I have the power to grow and manipulate trees as well as heal. I'm the reason Madara isn't a vegetable right now."

Sasuke rubbed at Hashirama's palm as an unspoken apology. The venom that had seeped into his voice was very faint, but strong. Hashirama continued to pet him, so he knew he was forgiven. 

"I have the most powerful chakra anyone's ever had. I'm also the only natural Mokuton user. Tenzou, in the Hatake Clan, has it too, but his was a donation from me."

"What happened to him?"

"I believe it was a paralysis. Rin hadn't been able to help him and brought him to me. Rin helped with the transfusion of spinal fluid while I healed him. He doesn't have the reserves of chakra that I do, so his Mokuton is weaker, but he was a natural with it."

"Do you know anyone else with the Mokuton?"

"No. There's no record of it in the family, either."

"That's strange."

"A little. Tobirama says it was bound to happen, me being the only optimist in the Senju clan."

Sasuke huffed a soft laugh, settling his head against Hashirama's collarbone. "Tobirama's an ass." 

Hashirama smiled, petting the boy's wild, yet somehow styled, hair. They lapsed into comfortable silence, the Senju's presence exuding peace and calm.

* * *

It had been Kisame who had helped him. Yes, Kisame.

Madara had broken down, rushing forwards like a worried mother to crush Obito in his embrace. He had carded his hands through his son's hair, kissing his face and checking his bruises and cuts.

"I'm fine, Chichi." Obito had protested, his voice and body weak. He smiled, though, at the tender and loving caresses Madara lathered him with.

"Oh, Obito. I'm so sorry."

Shisui came in moments later, followed hotly by Kakashi and Rin.

"You're alive!" Rin had to fight Madara for space, but she got a tearful hug and a joyful kiss.

"Do you know these people?"

Kisame's voice had been startling, but he nodded. "They're close family."

"I'll wait outside then."

"Okay. Thank you."

"For what?"

"For helping me rescue him."

"We're partners. Don't worry about it."

He smiled and nodded, watching Kisame walk out.

"Itachi?"

He turned to the other voice. "Hashirama-san?"

The Senju smiled and shook his head.

"It's redundant to tell you how much this means. But, because Madara won't let Obito out of his sight in the next week and I know you need to leave, I'll tell you." He pulled the younger man into a strong embrace, kissing the top of his head. "Thank you. Losing a son is unlike any other terror in this world."

"I can only imagine."

Hashirama pulled back, but cupped his face. "I hope you never have to go even that far."

Itachi knew what he was talking about. Mito had been Hashirama's surrogate, offering as a  close friend and for the chance to have children she'd see. They never worked as a family unit, but when Batsuma had been captured, tortured and killed, both of their small families had wept. They had one more child, Kawarama, who they tried to protect from the same fate as his older brother, but he, too, was taken in service to Konoha. The clan elders had demanded Hashirama sire another heir, but he refused. Tobirama's daughter, Tsuna, would take his place once Hashirama was ready to retire. Madara had tried desperately to console Hashirama during that time, but no one was ever able to provide him with the same support he gave them. Then the South American drug lords had come and Obito was taken . . .

Hashirama was a strong soul, a great Senju tree. He smiled again, smoothing Itachi's travel-mussed hair. "You should get back to your partner. If you stay too much longer, who we are might just become apparent."

"Tell them I say goodbye, okay?"

"Of course."

Outside, he let his body sag against Kisame and a small smile come to his lips. "I'm happy he's home. Thank you for helping me."

"There's nothing you need to thank me for." Kisame's thick arm wrapped around him, pulling him into the thick warmth of the older man. 

_Thick arms hoisted his limp and aching body onto his knees so he could be taken again, just like before. Over and over._

"I'm a little sore."  _Understatement of the century._  He smiled mischievously. "Have you ever been to a hot spring, Kisame?" _  
_

"A hot spring?"

He took his partner's hand, tugging him along. "I think you'll like it."

_His hand scrambled against nothing, his cracked and fragmented nails scraping dirty concrete. His broken hand was oozing yellowed, chunky liquid and looked like a head of cauliflower. Black strands turned brown from the filth encrusted into his hair were laying scattered around him in matted clumps._

Was he okay?  _"Obito?"_ Was he okay, now that he's home?"

_The pain was searing, but familiar. He didn't understand how the men that did this to him could enjoy it. He was broken inside like he was out, molted black and blue and brown-crimson from fresh wounds or split scabs._

_The pain, that was familiar, but it still overwhelmed him every time. Now was no different. Without pretense or foreword, he passed out._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Week Six of Itachi's capture comes to a close.


	22. Week 7: Level Emotion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took ages. I hope you enjoy.

"Sasuke, may I speak with you?"

The teen paused at the door, his new walk-home posse already dispersing back into the elevator, chatting animatedly amongst themselves. Lee's shouts at Neji about the Power of Youth and Neji's lack thereof drowned out much of the conversation, but Sai's request was by far the clearest sentence. 

"Uhh, sure." Sasuke moved aside to let Sai in. "So, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Sai stared at him for a moment, assessing him with his fathomless eyes. "You know of my sexual encounters with Naruto."

Sasuke scowled. "Yeah. Naruto told me. Why?"

"I wish to make myself clear. I understand the connection you have to Naruto and the jealousy that would ensue."

"I know all about your relationship with Naruto. Madara told me." Sasuke turned away, but something else occurred to him. "Would you answer a question for me?"

"If it will ease any tension between us, I will answer any question you have."

"Did Naruto ever take his clothes off for you?"

"During sex?"

"Yes."

"No. He did not." Sai looked off thoughtfully. "He would never let me see him naked ever, despite the level of intimacy we shared. The least he would wear was a t-shirt with jeans." 

Sasuke looked away.

"Why do you ask?" Sai gazed at him thoughtfully. "Does it have something to do with your feelings for Naruto?"

Sasuke snorted. "I don't have feelings for Naruto."

Sai nodded. "Of course you don't. The fact you can't sleep without him pressed close testifies to that."

"Who told you about that?"

"Naruto and I are very close friends. I am his second-in-command, like Tsunade for Minato. I was the first he confessed his interest in you to."

"What, exactly, does Naruto want from me?"

"If Naruto's wish were to come true, he would marry you at eighteen and have a whole bunch of rug rats with you as his lovely wife." Sai smiled cheekily. He scowled back. 

"Be serious, Sai."

"Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. What I said I meant in a humourous, but truthful fashion. Naruto loves and desires you. Were it not for his seal, I have no doubts that he would have had you on your back long ago."

"How fast did he get you on your back, huh?"

"Very soon. Almost immediately after they found me in shock. His gentleness that night brought me to tears, the first real emotion I can remember feeling. Sex was not the primary coil in our relationship, however. After the initial time, Naruto suggested it as a way to release tension, anger or fear. I have issues recognizing and vocalizing my emotions. Naruto has guided me back to my feet. While I am still not completely comfortable with my emotions, I am able to control and understand most of them."

"Didn't you get jealous when Naruto told you that he wanted me?"

"No. Naruto is aesthetically pleasing and has a wonderful personality, but my time with Naruto was recovery, not love."

"Sai?"

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

He swallowed thickly. "What actually happened with Danzo?"

* * *

Naruto was home early that night, but long after Sai had gone. Hashirama had taken Madara home with him to the Senju compound, hoping the change of scenery would speed Madara's return to normal. Obito was out with Rin, Shisui and Tobi were on his floor and Izuna and Tobirama had followed Hashirama. 

Sasuke himself was sitting in the living room, staring blankly out over the city. 

"Sasuke?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin. Since his discovery of the shinobi world  _everybody_ else in his life operated in, Naruto hadn't kept up the effort of being the loud, loveable idiot he was during classtime. He was stealthy and sometimes terrifyingly quiet;  _lethal_. 

"Oh. Naruto. Welcome home."

"Thanks." The blonde sat down beside the raven, blue eyes blazing in the moonlight. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Why?"

The blonde sighed, taking his hand. "I know you've been angry with me for a couple weeks ago. I know you talked to Sai. I know that if Itachi hadn't gone missing, this would be at the forefront of your mind. I'm not gonna baby it up for you or lie. Seeing my seal is either a marriage contract or a death sentence. PIck your poison."

"I'm so confused with all this." Sasuke laid his head down on Naruto's lap, nuzzling into a warmth so similar to Hashirama's, but more intimate. "I don't know what to think. Do I want to have sex with you or is it my pride? Do I love you? Would I be willing to throw away my life to see you naked, to see if your skin is bronze all over like it looks?"

Naruto ran his fingers through the spiky black locks, easing the words out of him. 

"Are you like Hashirama and I'm just running away from you, like Madara? Am I that tsundere? Can I just not accept your love? Am I denying myself?"

"Were you mad when I wouldn't let you see my body?"

Sasuke laughed. "You have no idea. I wanted to kill you in that moment. All hot and heavy, it felt like you were toying with me."

Naruto sighed. "I wasn't. I  _so_ wasn't. I want you so bad, Sasuke. You can't begin to understand how much self-control it takes for me to hold myself back from taking you."

"What do you mean?"

"In gym? To see that ass in your tight little shorts?" Naruto groaned low in his throat. "I wanted you bent over the bleachers, moaning around me."

Sasuke swallowed thickly. 

"I wanted to wrap my arms around you in English and sleep pressed against your back. I wanted to see how you'd look with me sneaking you a blowjob while you're doing a presentation. I envisioned you spread out on my bed, naked and aching for me. Your hair slicked to your head with sweat, your nails digging into my back, my teeth marks on your throat. Just being next to you in class, I could  _taste_ you."

"Well, that's an-" Sasuke panted. "-admirable amount of self-restraint."

Naruto grinned down at him. "I'd say." He sobered. "But at the same time, as much as I'd love to have you, I don't want you to want to leave. I'd . . . I'd have to kill you. My mother and father were already married when he got the mark. She'd already devoted herself to him. I have to be so careful."

"They shouldn't have branded you so young."

Naruto smiled weakly. "Maybe not. I was fourteen when it happened. But, at the same time, Fugaku was causing a lot of trouble. Dad wanted to make sure that there was someone to take after him if Fugaku got too ballsy."

Sasuke frowned. "I remember my dad being a prick and an asshole, but was he really as bad as you guys make him sound?"

Naruto's blue eyes darkened, but his voice remained level and emotionless. "Worse."

Sasuke paled. "Worse?"

Naruto looked away again. "After Itachi returned Obito, Madara came to Dad and asked if he could stage a coup. When my father refused, he asked if, as Hokage, Minato could order his execution. Instead of killing him, Dad pushed him to retirement. That way, Madara could ask Itachi and get permission to kill him."

"Seems pretty roundabout."

"Fugaku caused a lot of trouble, but never outright mutiny. Mind you, my father knows all of the clan heads really well and if he wanted, they would rally behind him, but it just seemed too harsh while he was in such a position of power."

"Should have killed him."

"Hindsight's always best." Naruto kissed the top of his head. "Are you ready to sleep?"

"Hmm. Maybe a movie first?"

Naruto chuckled. "Whatever you want."

* * *

"Itachi?"

The young man looked up from his book. "Shisui. Come in, come in. Would you like something to drink?'

The older man laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm good, thanks. Didn't expect you to be in the office this late. I'm glad to see you've finally changed the decor."

Itachi chuckled, sitting back. "Drab and old doesn't suit me. Kisame's gone on a mission and I had some work to do. What brings you here?"

"I . . . ugh. I needed someone to talk to and you're the only one I can trust with this, okay?"

Itachi's brow furrowed and he stood, coming around his imposing glass and steel desk to sit on the white couch in a secluded section of the spacious office. "Tell me."

Shisui collapsed, laying his head in Itachi's lap. "I fucked Tobi from the Akatsuki last night."

" . . . I can't say that was what I expected to hear."

Shisui laughed breathlessly, tension dissipating from his body. "What were you expecting? I knocked someone up?"

"Frankly, yes." 

Shisui laughed, winking up at Itachi. "Well? What do you think about Tobi?"

"Well, I'm sleeping with Kisame, so I have nothing  _to_ say. Answer me this, however. What, exactly,  _are_ your interests in Tobi?"

"I really want to know more about him, to learn him. I love him, Itachi."

"How long have you been mooning over him?"

"A long time." Shisui grinned sheepishly. "I really like him. Do you think I fucked it up by sleeping with him?"

"Did you see his face?"

At this, Shisui deflated. "No. He wouldn't have his mask off."

"Tobi is very self-conscious about his past and his face. Nagato told me that he was horribly disfigured before he joined the Akatsuki by a mission gone wrong. He wouldn't even tell Nagato anything else about it. He also lost one of his eyes."

Shisui's eyes were wide. "Shit."

"Hmm. I believe he was an Uchiha once. I looked into him, but could find nothing on his background."

"Well then."

Itachi stroked his hand through the unruly locks. "However, if you are truly interested in him, I suggest you move quickly. He's very, very sensitive about this, even if he hides it behind a laughing exterior."

"You know, I'm supposed to be the older one."

Itachi just chuckled. "In this, Shisui, I am the elder."

* * *

_Harsh light hit his dazed eyes. Some rhythmic pounding was going on in his lower half, but he was so disconnected, he could barely feel anything._

Where did Shisui go?

 _"Shisui?"_  Wasn't he going to talk with . . . who? Who was Shisui looking for? Thinking of, perhaps?  _"Tobi?"_

 _A clump of what used to be hair kept hitting his cheekbone, but he hardly seen it, let alone feel it._ Where had his white and cream office gone?

_"Why are there cameras?"_

_"To film you being a good little bitch for me." A thick voice, saturated in the deepest levels of repulsion, whispered in his ear. He blinked at the voice._

_"You're not Kisame."_

_"Who the fuck is Kisame?"_

_He seemed to have just realized he was naked. "No, this belongs to Kisame."_

_"You're mine, now, bitch."_

_And the trembling began._

 


	23. Week 8: Clandestine Violence

When Sasuke entered the kitchen, Naruto trailing silently behind him, Madara was sitting at the table nursing a coffee and a piece of toast. Hashirama was cooking on the stove, shirtless, with his long hair braided down his back. 

"Morning, boys!"

"Morning, Hashi." Sasuke answered. "What's for breakfast?"

"Eggs, bacon, sausage. Normal getup. Oh! And toast. Naruto-san, could you put some on for me?"

Naruto playfully nudged Hashirama's hip. "I'm just Naruto right now." He popped the toast in.

"Thanks." Hashirama winked at him and moved to another burner. 

Sasuke sat down next to Madara. "You're looking better today, old man."

Madara grinned lecherously at him. "Hashirama fucked me straight last night. I feel better than I have in a long time."

Sasuke's face scrunched up with adorable disgust. Naruto plopped himself down beside Sasuke, but at the end of the table. He grinned. "Oh yeah?"

"Hmm. Couldn't walk this morning."

Hashirama set more toast in front of Madara and kissed his bare shoulder. "Damn right you couldn't."

Sasuke buried his face in his hands. "Gross."

Naruto adjusted the wrappings on his torso. "Just imagine what I'd do to you, Sasuke."

His face lit up and Madara laughed, clear and ringing. He reached over and pinched his cheek. "I thought we were supposed to  _eat_ tomatoes, Sasuke."

In mortification, he slapped the older man's hand away. "Fuck off."

"Language." Hashirama chastised. 

"Really?" Sasuke spun around in his seat. "You sleep with Madara and you're conscious of foul language?  _You married Madara and you don't like swearing?!_  How do you even live?"

Hashirama chuckled. "Madara is a grown man. You, sir, are still under your brother's care."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked back to Naruto, who was watching him lazily, blue eyes half-lidded and serene. 

Shisui, too, lazily strolled into the kitchen, shirtless and unashamed. Tobi followed shortly after him in his black bodysuit and mask, but no other apparel.

"Morning all." Shisui murmured, moving over to the coffee machine like the waking zombie he was. 

"Good morning!" Tobi chirped, skipping over to a vacant seat on the other side of Naruto. Shisui, once he had his lifeblood in his cup, wandered over to his boyfriend and was unceremoniously pulled down into his lap. It was a sign of how addicted Shisui truly was (bloody lawyers) that he didn't even protest the action. Tobi rested his head on the other Uchiha's shoulder, serenely rocking them back and forth.

"I'll never understand how you Uchiha live on that stuff." Naruto wrinkled his nose at the smell of the black liquid. "It looks like tar."

"Tastes like it too." Tobi hummed. "Shisui drinks it to stay awake."

Naruto snorted, leaning back in his chair and just letting his head fall back, eyes falling closed. Sasuke watched him with a fond smile. 

There was a sudden, rough pounding on the door. Naruto bolted upright, his hand wrapped around one of the steak knives Hashirama had laid out. Silence filled the kitchen.

"Shisui! Madara! Sasuke! Hashirama! Open the fucking door!"

Madara rushed over to the door. "What the fuck, Hidan?! Buzz if you want up!"

The Akatsuki member snarled and thrust a disc against Madara's chest. His voice dropped to a low, seething and calm tone. "Watch the fucking video."

Madara looked down at the disc, then up to the man standing in his doorway. "How did you get this?"

"Tobirama and Izuna are down with Nagato right now. Izuna asked me to do a run by of the mail, because you wouldn't have checked it. I found this in an unmarked package and opened it, just to make sure it wasn't a bomb or something. I watched it, too. You need to see this." He stuck his head in further, magenta eyes narrowed on the rest of the people in the kitchen. "You assholes too. You need to see this."

* * *

_"Good to see you again, brothers."_

_Fugaku smiled darkly at the camera, his hair longer and more mussed than it had been previously. He looked older, crazier._

_"It's been two months. Two benevolent months I've given you to hand Sasuke over. I can tell you Itachi has been enjoying his time here thoroughly. Isn't that right, my boy?"_

_Itachi's head was on Fugaku's lap, blood slowly oozing out from between his lips as his eyes, grey and hauntingly empty, fixed ahead blankly. Fugaku didn't stroke through Itachi's hair: it was far too matted and filthy. However, his body had been cleaned and all of his bruises and tears were visible. His starvation was clear: exposed ribs were the drying rack of his whitening and flaking skin. Again, he was naked, body maneuvered to his kneeling position._

"Do you think he's alive in there?" Hidan asked quietly.

"Yes." Madara answered, once again sitting attentively and furiously at the edge of his seat. 

_"Since you've taken so long," Fugaku continued. "I've taken it upon myself now to show you how serious I am. Obviously, my men haven't been clear enough."_

_He stood and Itachi fell limply to the floor, not even making a sound as he connected harshly with the concrete floor._

_"Unfortunately, my perfect little Itachi hasn't been particularly docile today. I'll make sure he stays this way with us, hmm?"_

_Fugaku picked Itachi up and brought him back up to his knees, kneeling behind him. Itachi's blank stare was fixed on the camera._

_"Say hello, my little Itachi." Fugaku laughed darkly before he undid the belt clasp on his pants. The sound registered, because the younger man flinched. A button popped open and a zipper sounded in the silent room. "Take it like the slut you are."_

_"Sasuke . . . " The breath left Itachi's lips, but the camera picked it up._

"He said my name." Sasuke breathed, horrified. Naruto clasped his hand in a firm squeeze.

_Fugaku thrust in without, apparently, too much resistance. Itachi didn't move outside taking the brutish and angry thrusts, his head cocked as if lost in a distant place or time._

"Is he always like this?" Sasuke whispered in horror.

"Pretty much." Hashirama replied, gaze glued to the television. 

 _"You're such a good boy. Just like you've been all these years. You let me use you to my heart's content, make you bleed, make you beg. What would your dear little Sasuke think if he knew the real reason you stopped showing up on his birthday? Or the reason you were never at any of his events? Why you never seen him graduate? Why you were never there for Christmas or Easter or for any of his sports games? What would he think? You were so_ desperate _to protect him from me that you would let me use you however I pleased, even to the point of taking your virginity when you were eight. You've been a slut for me ever since, showing up whenever I called or whenever you thought I might take this out on precious, worthless, little Sasuke." Fugaku snarled and squeezed Itachi's broken hand to match the resentment in his purely savage thrusts. "Would he think you were weak? You couldn't stand up to me. You couldn't protect him."_

_Fugaku pulled back and slapped Itachi to the floor before pulling him back up by his hair._

_"I'll get Sasuke eventually, Itachi. It's only a matter of time before he's where you are right now."_

_Fugaku was too busy fucking his son to see his son's eyes darken once more, black awareness coming once more to his vacant face._

_"I bet he'll scream like the bitch he is, like he's always been. I'll make him beg for you and I'll make you watch."_

_The black was overtaken by red, three tomoe spinning to life in his eyes. Subtly, so subtly that Fugaku didn't notice, Itachi began to tremble._

"No, no." Madara grinned wolfishly. "He's shaking."

Shisui paled before he began laughing hysterically. "He is, too. He is."

"What is wrong with you?!" Sasuke cried, gaze flickering back and forth between his uncle, cousin and tv. 

Hidan was the one to answer, voice low and fearful. "He shakes like that when he's losing it."

"Losing what?"

"Control."

 _"He's hate you, blame you. You'd be the reason he'd be there, after all. Because I know you wouldn't listen to me at first. You'd try to get Sasuke back, to_ save _him from me." Fugaku laughed bitterly. "You'd learn. I'd show you and then you would listen. You're smart like that, baby boy. You would take the Clan and lead them against that Namikaze moron. You'd get me the Hokage position, wouldn't you? You'd betray everyone just to save that worthless little fuck."_

_Itachi's tomoe were spinning wildly and his shaking was turning into full on vibration. Fugaku must have thought it was PTSD finally settling in, because he ignored it._

_"Sasuke will be my bargaining chip. He'll be the reason Konoha falls to me. You'll kill Minato, his shitty brat Naruto and you'll bring his bitch of a wife, Kushina, to me. I'll make her learn her place. And you'll do it to spare Sasuke all of the things I've done to you over the years. You'll never get the chance again to tell him you love him or that it's alright that he's a little faggot like you are."_

_Itachi stilled, his mind right on the precipice._

_Fugaku grinned, his lips close to Itachi's ear as he gazed into the camera, smug and assured of victory. "I'll make you watch as Sasuke sobs and begs like you did the first time, like you did on his fourth birthday. And every birthday since. I'll have a special show, just for you, on_ your _birthday to make up for all those years of sacrifice. Maybe it'll even be you who does it first. Who better to break him so entirely?"_

_Itachi's tomoe stopped spinning and morphed._

"Is that his Mangekyo?" Hashirama leaned over the chair in awe. "He's drugged up to his eyeballs and he can still do the Mangekyo?"

"It's triggered by emotion, Hashi." Madara replied softly, voice low and calm, body still and tense. "And this is rage."

_Three curved black blades extended from his red pupil and within seconds, black fire erupted across the floor. Fugaku screamed and jolted away, hurriedly doing up his pants. "Knock him out! Knock him out!"_

_Slowly, Itachi stood, slowly and steadily, as if he was disconnected from the pain in his body. The flame parted before him with a flicker of his eyes and he walked up to to the camera, gently picking it up._

_"He brought me to Austin, Texas. Semi-suburban downtown." His eyes hardened and his steel will shone through. "I'll be waiting."_


	24. Eternal Flame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Itachi's free! What now, hmm?

The room was silent. 

"That means he's loose." Sasuke said slowly, his voice distant and lost. "He sent us this video."

Madara's dry laugh broke the silence. "I doubt it occurred to him to edit it."

Sasuke swallowed drily. "Is it true? What Fugaku said?"

Madara ran a hand through his hair, his fist clenching in it momentarily. "Yes. It started the night of your fourth birthday. He came home drunk and Itachi didn't want him to hurt you."

The front door clicked open and Izuna rushed into the room. "Tobirama has a lock on Itachi's chakra signature. Ino and Inoichi are trying to establish mental contact, but Yamanaka-san says all he sees in Itachi's mind is redness and white noise."

Hidan snorted. "Not surprised."

Izuna looked to Hidan, eyebrow cocked. "What do you mean?"

"He's loose in Austin, Texas." Hashirama interrupted. "Probably burning the place to the ground. We have to go."

Izuna nodded. "I'm sure Tobirama has a mark on Itachi somewhere. If not, Fugaku."

"Will he have enough chakra for it?" Hidan asked. 

Madara's eyes hardened. "If he doesn't, I'll give him mine. We're getting my nephew back."

* * *

After an hour of preparation, Tobirama had them teleported to Austin. Deidara was waiting for them there. 

"I was visiting my old friends in the Stone when I heard. I set up Tobirama's kunai." He sighed heavily. "I can't talk to him. Can't even get close."

"Where is he?" Sasuke snapped, eyes wide and bright with fury and fear. "Bring me to my brother!"

Deidara flinched, but nodded. "Naruto, bike's over there for you. Don't worry about the police. They won't stop you."

The blonde nodded and grabbed Sasuke's arm. "Address?"

"Head towards the smoke. Once you hit Main, you'll see it." Deidara said. He sighed again and looked away mournfully. "Be careful, please."

* * *

The sounds that met them were terrible. Melted masses of flesh lay scattered around the ground, still being eaten at by the massive ring of black flame. The house that had once stood there was now rubble, though that looked more like it was because of some upheaval of the earth rather than the fire. 

"Oh, shit." Naruto whispered, voice awed and a little terrified. 

"What?" Sasuke whispered back. 

"That's the Amaterasu. Itachi unleashed the Amaterasu."

"What does that mean?"

"You can't extinguish those flames. They're not called the Eternal Flames for nothing."

There was a flare in the fires and suddenly, a man was thrown through them, landing in a searing and screaming mass. A couple of firefighters and paramedics ran over to him.

"Don't touch him!" Naruto called, grabbing their attention. "You can't put out those flames and if they touch you, you'll burn too."

Sasuke tapped rapidly on Naruto's arm. "Look."

Atop the ruins of the house, Itachi appeared, eyes sparkling in a terrifying red. The man before him held up an assault rifle, though he looked more ready to wet himself than fire it. The Uchiha's hands came together in what Sasuke recognized as hand signs and held two fingers up to his mouth, spitting out a massive ball of fire. 

"That-" Sasuke's mouth fell open. "That just came out of his  _mouth_."

Naruto tossed him a side glance. "Yeah. It's the Great Fireball Jutsu."

Itachi's eyes swirled, spinning with malice and loathing. 

"Try calling to him." Naruto whispered.

"Me?! He can spit out fire like some kind of fucking dragon! You talk to him!"

Naruto scowled. "I don't know if you realize this, but he's barely conscious up there. If I call out to him, there's a good chance there's a fireball coming our way. You're his beloved little brother, the one he can't bear to see anything happen to. So call out to him."

Sasuke took a deep breath and move closer to the flame, ignoring the searing heat. "Itachi!"

The other raven's head cocked, as if listening to something from far away.

"Itachi!" 

Slowly, the man blinked and his eyes' swirl slowed to a more lethargic spin.

"Nii-san, please, answer me!" Sasuke called again, rising panic in his voice. "Nii-san!"

Muscles in Itachi's back and legs relaxed, his head raising slightly. The more he was ignored, the more Sasuke grew closer to tears.

" 'Tachi-nii,  _please_!" _  
_

Itachi turned, Mangekyo focused on Sasuke. Slowly, as if suddenly feeling pain again, Itachi made his way down through the rubble. The black flame parted like a curtain of violent velvet. 

"Sasuke?"

Mutely, and with a watery smile plastered across his face, Sasuke nodded. 

Itachi blinked and the fires behind him vanished. When he opened his eyes again, they were coal black once more - glassy with fatigue, but still very much an alive and present. 

"Sasuke?"

His smile stretched wider, tears escaping his eyes. "I'm right here, Nii-san."

"Are you alright? You're not hurt?"

The question startled the younger man. "No, I'm fine."

Gingerly, Itachi reached his intact hand up and stroked the smooth, unblemished paleness of his only sibling. An exhausted smile came to his face. "I'm so thankful." Itachi's eyes closed and with a sigh, he collapsed.

* * *

The first thing Itachi woke up to was Sasuke clutching his waist, much to the protests of the doctors around, and sobbing into his chest.

"Why the tears, Otouto?"

Sasuke's head snapped up, shock on his tear-streaked face. "Itachi? You're-" He wiped his face. "You're awake?"

"Don't worry. Just now I woke."

The doctors around them were scrambling, calling out in shock to one another. 

"They said-" Sasuke took a deep breath, taking his hand and kissing the bruised knuckles. "They said you were comatose. That you wouldn't recover."

"Recover from what?"

"The damage the drugs did. They said it should have killed you long ago. They said they could see several overdoses' worth of damage in your internal organs."

"I'm sure they did." He grimaced as the cast on his hand was jostled. "That much heroin would usually kill a seasoned addict, let alone someone lightweight like myself."

"Then I'm even more thankful that you're alive."

"Come now, two months with the floor to yourself-"

"-Was the worst thing I've ever had happen to me." Sasuke interrupted, scowling. "I seen the tapes he sent us. I watched what he did to you. I can go fuck off anywhere to be alone. I never want to come home and find you gone ever again."

Itachi frowned softly and raised his hand to stroke through Sasuke's disheveled hair. "I had hoped to avoid causing you pain like this."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he stared at his brother. "You just underwent two months of constant psychological, physical and sexual torture and you're sorry for  _me_?"

Itachi nodded, taking a deep breath. "It started when you were four. I had been a prodigy before my time. I was already beginning my training when I was four and I was int he Academy when I was eight. On the eve of your fourth birthday, Fugaku was in a drunk rage. He was slurring something about you being a waste of his money to feed and clothe, especially since I wouldn't allow him to introduce you to the same life I had forced on me. I caught him in the hallway, headed to your room. I panicked and offered him whatever he wanted from me if he only left you alone."

Sasuke stared, mouth parted slightly. Itachi looked away, eyes averted in shame. 

"So he raped me, just as he wanted. I slapped me around like I suppose he wanted to do to you or Haha. I couldn't walk when Madara found me in the dark of morning. After that, whenever he was frustrated or wanted to hurt you or her, he came to me. It only stopped when he went into hiding. It was especially violent on your birthdays. That's why I was never there."

"Itachi, I-"

"If it comes from anyone, it should come from me." Itachi heaved a sigh, glancing up at his younger brother with a tentative smile. "I never wanted you to know, but you deserve to know, especially since you found me like that."

"I seen the videos, Itachi." Sasuke choked out. "I know . . . " He took a steadying breath. "I heard what Fugaku said. I just . . . I just want you to know that I will never think less of you. If there's one thing that these last two months have taught me is that you're the most important person in my whole life. I love the other clan members, even Naruto, but you mean the most and nothing in your past, present or future will ever change that. I love you so much Aniki." His voice squeezed up in his throat, but he tried to fight back the tears. "So much. So much . . ."

Itachi pulled him up onto the bed, not even flinching when his injuries were jostled. He pulled Sasuke's head into the crook of his shoulder, the hand nestled in the spiky black hair cradling the younger's head. "Remember, when we were children? When we used to play in the pools and ponds? Haha would get flustered when you lost your diaper in the bushes." He chuckled. "We used to sit in the bathtub together and you used to have me lay with my legs over the edge and you used to play with it like seaweed. Then, when we dried off, you would brush it out and braid it for me."

"You remember all of that?" Sasuke asked softly, yet awed. 

"Fondly."

"I always thought you just humoured me, just let me do it because I was the bratty little kid."

"I longed for it when I got too busy and you got too big." Itachi kissed his head. Suddenly, he frowned. "I suppose my hair is too matted to save, huh?"

Sasuke's head snapped up and determination flashed in his eyes. "I'll bring it back."

"Back?"

"You've taken care of me for my whole life. It's my turn to take care of you."

A bright smile lit up his face. "You have no idea how much I thought about feeling a brush in my hair, let alone all of those beautiful braids you used to put in."

"Get some rest, Aniki. Hashirama is working on getting you home."

Itachi pulled him back down. "Rest with me?"

"Whatever you want, 'Tachi-nii."


	25. Crow And Claw

Itachi was gone when Sasuke returned the next day. 

The window of his room was shattered and blood still dripped from his IV. The nurses and doctors were in an uproar and police sirens were wailing in the distance. 

"Itachi?" Sasuke's voice went hoarse. " _Itachi?!_ "

Naruto behind him pulled aside one of the shaking nurses. "What happened?"

"A man came in claiming to be the patient's father. I was on my way here to change the IV bag, so I brought him with me." She shook her head violently. "Almost as soon as he entered, the patient woke up. I don't think I've ever seen someone look so frightened before in my life. The man had brought other people with him, which I didn't think too much of. After all, yesterday all of his visitors were male relations. He pulled the IV out of his arm and the men tried to corner him. They wound up tackling him through the window. I went to run after him, but the man hit me with something hard and metal. I didn't wake up again until a few moments ago."

"How long ago was this?"

"I had a check in on him for o-six-hundred."

"Thank you."

"They have two hours on us." Sasuke looked ready to lose it. "We'll never find them."

Naruto stared at him, as if assessing him. "Not us, maybe, but something else."

"Something?"

* * *

They were on the roof of the hospital and Naruto was looking over the edge.

"God, please don't tell me you're going to jump." Sasuke fretted. "I don't think I could handle that."

"Not yet, anyway." Naruto's face was drawn with seriousness when he met Sasuke's eyes again. "Has any of your clan told you about the Kyuubi?"

"The thing trapped inside your body, allegedly, with that seal that's the reason I can't get you naked? Yeah, Madara did. Why?"

Naruto smiled thinly. "I take it you didn't quite believe him."

"Not a bit.  _Why_ , though, Naruto?"

The blonde knelt down, hand over his stomach. He curled in on himself, going very still. 

"Naruto?"

"You may address me as Kurama."

Sasuke jumped at the change in tenor, at how Naruto's register dropped so low so fast. "This isn't the time for your games, Dobe!"

Naruto's body shook violently once before the  _redhead_ -?

Red eyes, different from his family's crimson Sharingan, flickered over his face. Black-lined lips pulled back in a sneer to reveal glimmering, sharp white teeth. Naruto's normally vibrant blonde hair, stuck up at all angles, was flatter, straighter, and blood orange. The ever-present whisker marks on his cheeks had deepened and widened, revealing themselves to actually be scars. Powerful tan fingers flexed with their new claws. About his ankles, nine matching blood orange tails feathered the ground. 

Those eyes, slitted as they were, roved over him once before he hummed in approval. "I can see what Naruto likes so much about you. You  _would_ make a pretty bed warmer. Probably a feisty mate, too."

"What the hell-?"

Suddenly not-Naruto looked to the side and growled. He rolled his eyes. "Come, Sasuke."

"This is not fucking funny, Naruto!"

"Naruto? Oh, no no. I am Kurama, the Lord Kyuubi." The creature grinned broadly. "Naruto switched places with me, kit. I control this body and it is mine, for the time being."

Sasuke scrubbed his hands over his face, trying to force past his hysteria and just  _work_   _with this_. "Okay then, Kurama. Where are we going?"

"To hunt down your avian brother."

* * *

Kurama was an insufferable beast. 

"Do you even know where you're going?"

"Of course I do."

"Then we should have found Itachi already!"

Kurama gave him a sidelong glance. "That's what you think."

"Where is he then?! I'll go get him myself!"

"And get killed in the process." With speed the demon shouldn't have possessed, he yanked Sasuke into an alleyway, covering his shout with a clawed hand. "Can you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"Their chakra. I can hear them using it, hear it clashing." Kurama whispered, eyes flickering. "I can see it too. That's what I am. A great Tailed Beast, a bijuu, a chakra demon. One of the nine pieces of Shinju, the Tree of Life." The fox's distant stare turned back on him. "Itachi is a couple of blocks from here, hidden in a park. Right now, he's in a tree, nursing his broken hand and adjusting the wrappings around his fingers to accommodate the hand signs he needs to do. There are several lower class humans prowling below him, with those blasted guns of yours. Fugaku is trying to use his weak abilities to sense Itachi, but his son is hidden too well. There are also lookouts all along the area leading up and around. Why do you think I've been walking, been so casual?"

Sasuke didn't really know what to think. Kurama was legit, and that was scary. Suddenly, he could see why Naruto's seal was such a big deal. If that marking, whatever it may be, on his body housed something so powerful, it was no wonder that Konoha did its best to make sure no one could steal this strength from him. And Minato had half of this beast? It was little wonder that the Hokage was the prime leader. Not to mention that Kurama seemed content in his role, as if he was a steadying, guiding hand over the Konoha lordship. 

"I'm sorry."

Kurama pulled back, then smiled. "I know you are. Itachi is a good man. I don't wish to see harm come to someone so loyal either, but he is perfectly capable of taking care of himself, if that nurse's testimony says anything."

"You heard that?"

"I hear and see everything that Naruto and Minato do. That includes when he had you panting and begging for it underneath him." Kurama tossed a wicked smirk his way. "You should really make up your mind on that one."

"I do want Naruto." Sasuke protested. "Itachi's capture taught me that there are people I can't live without. Naruto's one of them. And if I don't want to stay forever? No matter how standoffish I've ever been, Naruto's never seemed to understand it. He'll just endear himself to me again and the cycle repeats."

"Good to hear, kitten." Kurama grinned. "But you should save your confessions for Naruto. Right now, we have to keep going if we plan to get to Itachi before he's killed everyone."

* * *

When  they reached the park, the place was destroyed. There were the ashen remains of foliage scattered along the ground, massive craters and broken trees. How did anyone manage something like this? Carcasses littered the ground, their guns and knives scattered around them. 

"Looks like Itachi was busy." Kurama noted, sniffing one of the corpses. "No Amaterasu or Totsuka impressions, so this is good. They haven't really been a problem."

"Haven't been a problem? Can you even  _see_ the amount of damage we're standing in?"

"The battles back in the Old Days were thousands of times worse than this. A small skirmish could easily destroy a bridge. A massive confrontation remoulded the landscape. A war levelled a forest. This is nothing. Both Itachi and Fugaku know that."

"Wouldn't Fugaku be looking to keep this small?"

"Yes, perhaps. However, with how quickly these men died, Fugaku can tell Itachi's not putting much effort into killing them. Quick, efficient kills, then back to cat and mouse. Doesn't look like he even came out from his tree."

Sasuke's phone ringing startled him in the dim silence. Quickly, he pulled it out. "Hello?"

 _"Hey!"_ Sasuke could hear Hashirama's grin through the phone.  _"We just got into Austin. Madara wants to know what hospital Itachi is in."_

Sasuke gulped. "He's-"

Kurama yanked the phone from his grasp. "Hashirama? Good. Fugaku came back for Itachi and we're hunting him down now as we speak." A pause. "Downtown. If you want to come, you better make it quick. Itachi's too skilled for this, even injured. Yeah, yeah, tell the moody bastard I say hi." Another pause. "Good. We'll call one this bullshit it sorted out."

* * *

When they found Itachi, he was standing facing Fugaku, who looked even worse than he did in the video. The older man was panting while Itachi just cradled his hand. 

"I should have killed you." Fugaku hissed. 

"I've always been a step ahead of you. There would have been no such chance."

"How so?"

"Did you think the Akatsuki joining Konoha was an impulsive decision? Or that I joined the General ANBU as, what,  _practise?_ Please, I'm the reason you got dethroned from your status in the first place." Itachi looked on coolly, unphased. His face didn't even hint at the pain he must have been in. 

"I should have taught you your place when you were little." Fugaku hissed. "I should have taken Sasuke when I had the chance. Instead, I got  _you_ , with your mother's look. Always so condescending, you whore. What do you even know about me?"

"Did you even care when Obito went missing? Didn't you mourn with Madara when Hashirama's children got killed?" Itachi said lowly. "Didn't you listen to Sai's wrecked sobs when they pulled him from Danzo's basement?" Itachi got quiet. "Were you even there when Mother gave birth to my dead sister? Did you miss the fact that you had three children instead of two?"

"That bitch gave me pussies instead of sons." Fugaku hissed back. "And the son I should have had, she couldn't give me."

Itachi raised his head, posture steeling. "I remember only having uncles. You stole the life from my mother. Someone such as you could never be a father. Regardless of your . . . sentiments towards my family, Tajima and Sasuke are  _my_  siblings and  _my_ kin. This is _my_ family. You left it the moment we ceased to matter to you."

Fugaku snarled, eyes sparked with madness. "I'm going to get what  _belongs_ to me. You're not going to stop me,  _bitch_." He leapt forward, but hit a solid red wall. Flipping backwards, he snarled again. "What the hell-?"

Across from him, Itachi didn't smile. "If I remember correctly, you possess a two-tomoe Sharingan. When you last assessed my ability, I was ten years old and, myself, held the three-tomoe. Since then, I have unlocked Madara's power."

"The Mangekyo?" Fugaku sounded awed. 

"With it came the Amaterasu. And the Susan'oo." Itachi informed him gravely. 

Fugaku took a look at the looming red monster hovering over him, assessing its null, dark eyes. Then his gaze came back to the shield the creature held raised over its host. "And that?"

"The Yata Mirror. It deflects anything you can throw at it, including you."

Fugaku snarled again, charging. Again, the Mirror threw him back. 

"This ends here." Itachi didn't flinch as his Susan'oo's other hand erupted a blade of orange fire. 

"The Totsuka Blade." Kurama muttered in wonderment. "I didn't know he had them both."

"What does it mean?"

"All along, Itachi's been practically invincible inside his Susan'oo." Kurama replied. 

Fugaku squinted at it. "Don't you think I can avoid something so large?"

"I need only graze you, worm." Itachi replied, voice cold and hard. The blade was swifter than it looked. Fugaku's madness had aged him beyond his training. Swiftly and without mercy, the blade impaled him, his body almost . . .  _liquifying_ on the blade and oozing down it into the gourd.

"How . . . " Their father muttered, voice faint and distant. 

Itachi watched dispassionately as he got swallowed by the mouth of the gourd, sealed away forever. The Susan'oo dissolved around him, leaving him in sweat-soaked hospital pants, his hair loose around his shoulders, bangs flickering with the wind. Vaguely, Itachi spoke to nothing. "I loathed you. I hated you with every fibre of my being. Right from the time you killed Tajima just because she was a girl. When you threw Sasuke out the window . . . it was me who caught him. When you slapped my mother, it was me who stabbed you. You can't hurt us again." He looked down at the stain where Fugaku had stood. "I won't let you."


	26. Beloved

When they got back to the hospital, Itachi supported by Naruto (himself once more) and Sasuke, they found Madara pacing the entrance foyer with the nurse from before. As soon as Madara's flaming Sharingan landed on him, he had his arms crushing Itachi into his chest. 

"You fucker!" Madara's face disappeared into the crook of the elder brother's neck and his shoulders shook. "Don't do this shit to me!"

Itachi wheezed out in pain. "You're hurting me."

Madara jumped back like he'd been scalded. "Hashirama!"

The brunette appeared around the corner. "Hmm?" Itachi smiled weakly at him, swaying slightly on his feet. The Senju stood there, dumbstruck, as the other Uchiha ran around the corner, Shisui and Obito rushing over to help Itachi sit on a bed they had waiting. 

Hashirama slowly paced over to Itachi, Shisui and Obito parting at his approach. Gently, his fingers traced over Itachi's face. A cripplingly watery smile came to his face and he pulled the elder brother into a tender embrace. 

"My son . . . " The Senju breathed before he laughed. "Good God, you're alive . . . "

Despite the closeness Itachi shared with Hashirama, he had never expected this kind of reaction from the man at his return. 

"I'm not going to say I'm fine." Itachi replied, falling relaxed and limp in his uncle's grip. "But I will be."

Gently, Hashirama kissed his shoulder. "I'll do whatever I have to. I've already called Tsunade down. We'll take care of you, my baby. I promise."

* * *

By mid-afternoon, Minato, Kakashi, Tenzou, Kushina, Rin, Tsunade, Mito, Nagato and Kisame stormed the hospital. 

Minato and Kushina had taken their time checking him over and holding him, their support and encouragement as heartwarming as Hashirama's tear-stained promise. 

Kakashi, when he got there, grabbed Itachi's face and full-on kissed him, hands tangled in the matted mess of his hair. Tenzou kissed him too, but chastely, and gave him the change of clothes he'd brought with him. 

Rin kissed between his eyes before she turned around and  _demanded_ to be part of the healing effort. Who was Hashirama to turn away family help? Tsunade just laughed and the three of them sat down for their session.

* * *

Despite the fact that he had three healers, Itachi's body could only take so much regeneration at once. After the two Senju and Nohara seen themselves out, Nagato sat down on his bedside, stroking his hand down the side of his face with a placid hand. 

"I'm so happy you're safe, Itachi." The redhead murmured, his low voice carrying in the quiet room. "I've never been so happy to see you, in all these years."

Itachi smiled wanly. "I'm happy to be free. Sasuke's been fighting off anyone who even hints at giving me painkillers, but pain fades. They must have fixed something in me while they were working earlier, because I feel so much better."

"Good. I'm glad."

Mito peered over her kinsman's shoulder. Silently, she came around the side of the bed, taking his broken hand in hers. She bit her opposite index finger and started to draw on his hand. "If you send chakra to this seal, it will act as a tracking beacon. As soon as it is activated, it will draw on nature chakra to continue pulsing. I want you to activate it if the air so much as changes direction in this room, do you understand me? This is also a blood seal, so nothing can get rid of it. Not even cutting off your arm."

"Thank you, Mito."

"You foolish Uchiha mean a lot to us Senju and Uzumaki. Don't you forget that." She tapped his nose and stood. "I'm going to join my General and his husband and probably counsel them through a crying fit."

Itachi winced. "Sorry."

"You've nothing to apologize for, pretty darling. Rest. I don't think Naruto or Sasuke will be leaving." She looked up, then back down with a devilish smirk. "Plus, you have one more visitor. Come, Nagato-san, we'll leave them be."

The two Uzumaki took their leave quietly. 

* * *

Kisame stared at him like he wasn't real and it was slightly unnerving. Kisame had always been level and calm, outside of battle, anyway. It was strange to see him so shaken. 

"What are you waiting for?" He said lowly, moving over as much as the IVs would allow. 

Slowly, Kisame shed his jacket, massive arms bulging in a way Itachi had nearly forgotten. With tenderness such strength should belie, the Akatsuki member picked him up and settled down underneath him, wrapping his bruised and battered body in thick, solid and substantial warmth. 

"I missed you."

Kisame was the only one to say that. Everyone else told him they were thankful for his safety, but Sasuke aside, none of them had said anything like that.

"I missed you too." He replied, nuzzling back into his lover's body. "More than you can imagine."

"Considering you asked in one video where I was, I'd say you missed me a lot."

"Strangely, I don't remember too much about the actual experience. So much of the time, I was lost in my own mind, thinking and remembering."

"Good memories, I'm guessing?"

"Pleasurable ones too." Itachi teased, kissing a bicep. "You were a featured star in most of them."

"Most?"

"I had a week, I think, where I thought of Kakashi and Tenzou. They were the first people I loved romantically."

"What do you think about the state of your hair?"

Itachi's face crinkled in disgust. "It feels terrible. It itches and chafes. Sasuke wants to try and work out all the mattes, though, and I'm inclined to let him. There's not much he can do to help me and I think that frustrates him."

"You should have seen him at home. Talk about pain in the ass."

Itachi laughed. "I'm sure."

 

 

 


	27. Braids

Two weeks later, Minato stood over them in the dark room, eyes fixed on an empty seat. "At ease."

Hashirama, Nagato, Kakashi, Hinata and Shikamaru took their seats, Shikaku and Hiashi standing behind their heirs. The Nara and Hyuuga heir and heiress looked on grimly.

"I'm sorry your inauguration had to take place during such an awful event, but I assure you, your contributions and achievements will not be overlooked. As soon as General Uchiha is capable, there will be a celebration in both of your honours." Minato said before he seated himself. Suddenly, Kushina appeared at his side and whispered into his ear, a grin on her lips. "Oh." Minato looked a little stunned by the news she delivered. "Of course, then. I have no objections."

The doors to the dark room opened once more and Itachi walked in, shadowed by Shisui and Madara. The young Uchiha General was dressed in clothes that were perhaps simple, but created a warm, clean effect on him. His once-matted hair was straight and smooth once more, despite having lost a good six inches along the bottom. One neatly done french braid trailed from his bangs down the length of his hair, tied off with his normal red ribbon. His bangs had been made into a selection of tiny braids, all different lengths but similar thicknesses. He walked with relative ease, but still lowered himself gingerly onto his hard chair, repressing a wince. 

"My apologies, Hokage-sama. I didn't intend to be tardy."

Minato just blinked. "No need to apologize. I'm glad you were able to make it here at all."

Itachi smiled in his familiar, gentle fashion. "As am I. Sasuke barely let me leave."

Shikamaru and Hinata snorted further down the table, knowing smiles on their faces. Itachi had forced Sasuke back to school and he knew his younger brother wouldn't shut up about him being home, especially now that he knew their truths. He dodged Sakura's questions on the subject, but that was easy to do. The group couldn't allow a civilian like her to understand the mechanics of their operations, nor the scope.

Minato's normal passive smile was back on his face. "Kushina has informed me you came here as a contractor."

Hashirama tossed him a surprised glance and Kakashi sat forwards more. Itachi kept his eyes on the Hokage.

"Yes. I realize that many of you have assisted my family in keeping the Uchiha unit together while I was . . . indisposed. I would like to thank all of you now, including both past and present Generals of the Nara and Hyuuga clans. However, my clan is in dire need of repair and restructuring, as well as my company, which has suffered in my absence. So, I move to formally hire Konoha and all of its affiliates, sans the Uchiha, to hunt down and eradicate both Fugaku Uchiha's supporters and the Chinese mafia, which assisted his ends."

"What kind of contract?" Nagato asked icily, hands folded in front of him.

"Open." Itachi replied. "I would request all of Konoha's participation."

Before anyone else could say anything, Minato stood up. His blue eyes sparked in the gloom, his light taking a more sinister edge. "We would gladly."

* * *

It was settled, then.

Itachi slumped against the door to his floor, facing the interior he had sorely missed. He would pay any travelling expenses, but the killing was on the house, bankrolled by Konoha itself. He had made good on his promise to Sasuke. He would have done it personally, would have loved to, but he wasn't lying at the meeting. Not to mention, he himself was in no condition to run out there with his clan members.

"You were gone a long time."

Sasuke stood in the hallway leading back to his room, a childish pout on his lips. Itachi laughed lowly, but honestly.

"Sorry Sasuke. Shikamaru and Hinata had their inauguration celebrations today. It took me quite some time to wade over to them, then wade back out."

'I'll say. You left at noon and it's almost ten now."

"Do you still want to wash my hair for me?"

"Until you can use your left hand again, I'm taking care of you."

So far, the boy had been true to his word. Anything Itachi so much as thought he wanted or needed and Sasuke was there to get it for him. Sasuke had even started to do paperwork with him for the company. Madara had almost gotten roped into it, but Itachi saved him and sent him and Obito down to the lower levels to help readjust his clansmen back into their regular lives instead of the state of panic they were in the previous two months. Shisui had taken the initiative and gone to work in Itachi's legal department, despite being a criminal lawyer, and sorted out the mess that had become. He also got Itachi's company credit card and applied for additions to his law degree to include corporate, labour, political and domestic law as well. Izuna . . . had not been lucky enough to come up with an excuse.

Rin and Hashirama still came over three times a week for intensive, four-hour-long healing sessions. Sasuke sat with him through them all, despite the fact his brother was mostly unconscious through them. Tsunade joined them once a week, assessing the damage and the repairs as well as acting as part-time counsellor, listening to Itachi's stories if he felt like speaking. Sasuke refused to be left out of those conversations and often laid on his brother's lap, giving the man a distraction as he unthinkingly spilled his stories and burdens.

Kisame . . .

Well, Kisame was taking care of business.

* * *

Sasuke loved his brother's hair. Even with the length he'd had to crop off (too much damage for even the best conditioner), it was still long and beautiful like he remembered it being. Still as controlled and easy to work with, too (a pretty good analogy as to what it was like to have Itachi as a brother).

Said older brother was laying in the master bathroom's tub, which was really more of a hot tub than a proper bath. As it was, Itachi was floating in the middle of the massive pool, the underjets a soft pulsation against his back. Sasuke was sitting on one of the curved porcelain seats armed with a brush and a comb. The locks brushed out easily now, as he hoped they would after a good hour under his masterful strokes. He was also pretty sure Itachi was asleep, comforted and warmed by his brother's hands and the familiar environment.

"I love you, Aniki." Sasuke whispered, a fond smile stretching his face. "You look so peaceful like this, so docile and free."

"Thank you." Itachi's voice was low, thick with lethargy or sleep. Despite that, Sasuke still only barely contained his jump. Without his consent, another smile broke across his lips. Gently, he grabbed his brother's shoulders and pulled him in, leaning down to kiss between his brows. Itachi giggled. "I love you too, Otouto."

* * *

That night, for the first time since he came home, Sasuke climbed into bed with his brother. It was the first time he hadn't been too sore or in too much pain to be cuddled with.

Sasuke curled into his brother's arms, the sheets thick with the scent of Itachi's bodywash and the feel of his skin, soft once more thanks to a strange woman with purple hair and a piercing named Konan. He touched the places, fingers as gentle as Itachi's weary breaths, where ribs once poked from beneath the skin. He traced the stitches which would leave scars all over his nii-san's pale body. He held the hand, once a fragmented slab of infection and bone, covered in thin scars, like hairs twined with the fingers, and felt it placidly grip him back.

"I'm so proud of you, Itachi." Sasuke whispered, head tucked under his brother's chin. "So much more than proud. I know I was a dick to you when you left, I know I caused you a lot of pain over the years with what I've said and what I've done, but I want you to know that I love you and adore you and I wouldn't trade you for anything in the world."

"It's for those exact reasons that I will endure any pain or torment I must to keep you safe and happy." Itachi murmured back, arms pulling him in closer. "The reward is well worth the cost. Even this last time. I would do it all again and again until the end of time to save you." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's up with me, huh? Two chapters in a day? 
> 
> But remember boys and girls, I'm not done yet.


	28. Ascension

"Something's not right with Itachi."

Naruto looked up at him. "Huh?"

"Itachi. He's not okay."

"Well, after the hunt, Nagato gave Kisame a month off. I don't know what he wouldn't have to be exuberant about. He healed up completely the third week Hashirama was working on him."

"I don't know what it is, but it's making me uncomfortable. He's not outright sad - he asks me to braid his hair all the time and even fell asleep on the couch a couple of days ago."

"Where's Kisame been?"

"He's practically living here. He was the one who picked Itachi up and took him to bed. The man's a fucking saint."

"Has he been aggressive or pushy?"

"Not once. He does everything Itachi asks of him - admittedly not very much - and keeps his distance. Itachi's still just . . . melancholy."

Naruto nodded slowly. "Do you think that might be part of it?"

"What?"

"That Kisame  _doesn't_ touch him?"

"Why would that be a problem?"

"Does Itachi push away affection? Has he  _ever_? He's been a rape victim most of his life and he still was in committed relationships with two people before Kisame. That means he had it in him to have sex with other people and love them even while his serial rapist kept coming back for him. Some people wall off when this kind of thing happens to heal, but does Itachi's history even hint at that?"

" . . . No. No, it doesn't."

* * *

It was driving him slowly insane, this still silence. 

Sitting in the bathtub, Kisame perched respectfully on the side, he felt like crying. Even during the rapes, he hadn't felt like this. Then, at least then, he knew this wasn't how it really felt: he knew there were people who loved him, people who wanted his wrecked and soiled body and people who didn't care about whatever scars there were on the surface. 

Continually through his abduction, he had believed . . . 

His throat closed on him and he shut his eyes to stop the tears, lips pursing into a thin line. 

 . . . He had believed Kisame would be one of those people.

Kakashi's first action was to kiss him, pouring thick grief mixed with immeasurable relief into the contact. Tenzou had been characteristically tender with him, as if they were back in ANBU after he returned to them, broken by Fugaku again.  _Nagato_ had shown more happiness to see him home. 

But it wasn't even like Kisame was disgusted with him, like he could understand. He was just  _absent_. He didn't come too close, hadn't kissed him since before his capture, was never around without all of his clothes on and didn't sleep in the same bed with him anymore. He didn't run his hands through his hair like he used to, didn't nuzzle into the bite scar on the back of his neck from Kisame's overly sharp teeth. Nothing. Hardly an acknowledgement that Itachi existed, let alone that Kisame still . . .

Itachi sighed soundlessly into the still bathwater. 

"Kisame?"

The man nodded, as if awaiting orders, but never looked at him. He sighed again. 

"I'm going to shower now."

Dutifully, Kisame stood, leaving the bathroom without a word. The door closed with a muted thunk.

* * *

He was curled up in a ball on the floor of the shower, facing a razor. 

 _I could do it_. 

He knew he could. He could have long ago. Make it look like he'd died on the field, so no one would have to know, so Father didn't have to be disappointed, Kakashi and Tenzou could get over him without guilting themselves blind and Sasuke . . . 

Well, Sasuke was never meant to know. It was all to protect Sasuke.

That was the reason the razor was across from him. He couldn't leave Sasuke now. Now there was no one  _but_ him to care for Sasuke. He couldn't leave Sasuke like that. His brother might even be the one to find him, and that was too much for Itachi to handle. He couldn't do it. 

But he could sob.

* * *

Sasuke found Kisame in the kitchen, staring down at a cookie tray that Chouji had brought over. 

"Where's my brother?"

Kisame looked up at the demand, slightly startled. "Showering. Why?"

"Tell him I'm staying at Naruto's tonight. And you." Sasuke grabbed him by the collar and  _scowled_. "I'm giving you the chance. Make it count."

"The chance for what?"

"Itachi's attention-starved, you halfwit!" Sasuke all but snarled. "He  _wants_! And he  _wants_ it from  _you."_

Kisame looked startled. "He hasn't given me any indication that he wants that-"

"Because you have to let him know  _you_ still want  _him_." Naruto said from the doorway. "You barely touch him, let alone make him feel like he's any more than a charity case."

Abruptly, the Akatsuki member was up and gone, face wrought with panic and no small amount of self-disgust. 

"How come you were the only one to notice it, Dobe?"

"I'm good at reading people who don't want to be understood, Teme. You could say I've got a life's worth of experience."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Sure."

* * *

Itachi heard the door open and bolted to a stand, razor back in its spot before Sasuke, who should be home any moment now, came in to find him like that. he ducked under the water, too, to hide the tear tracks on his face. 

Suddenly, the shower curtain was pulled back and Kisame, completely bare, stepped in. His face, for the first time in months, was broken in a look of despair. "Tell me."

The raven blinked, uncomprehending. "Huh?"

"Tell me. Tell me what you're feeling. Please. I need you to tell me."

Itachi stood frozen as the massive man - the man he  _loved_ \- pulled him tight against his chest. 

"Tell me what you feel, what you want, what you  _need_. By God, Itachi, I thought I was helping you by keeping to myself, but I'm wrong, aren't I? I don't know what you need from me. Whatever it is, take it. Please. I'll give you whatever it is because I  _love you_ , Itachi. You're an angel and I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I haven't done enough since you came home to deserve to keep you."

 

 

 

 


	29. Taking Wing

Itachi stared. His mouth was slightly parted and his eyes were wide, his expression stricken. 

" _I love you_." Kisame said, voice pitched low and fearful. Tenderly, as if the man in his arms was made of priceless porcelain, he kissed the Uchiha's forehead, nuzzling into the soaking raven hair. "And I don't ever want you to forget that or feel that I have."

A thicked, choked and watery sob came from Itachi. " _Fuck_. I love you too, Kisame. I love you so much. I thought about you so much."

Kisame turned off the taps, gently pulling Itachi out into the main bathroom and wrapping him in a cream towel. "Tell me about it. About what you thought about."

Itachi leaned into him as he was lead down to his bedroom, placed like glass on the edge and towelled off by Kisame's heavy, so  _heavy_ , hands, fingers creeping into alcoves of his body that they should never have left.  _  
_

"Strange as it is, I thought a lot about us having sex. I wanted to feel your hands again . . . I wanted to feel you inside of me, weighty and so _real_ on top of me . . . " The raven took a deep, shuddering breath. "God, I got so lost in remembering us. Like . . . Like the first time you touched me after I came home from Sasuke's birthday, how you kissed and nuzzled every bruise and cut, how you lavished me with so much attention that I came three times and passed out on the last one. I remember waking up that morning to feeling you feeling around inside of me, trying to make sure that you hadn't torn anything or hurt me more. I rode you that morning: came with you just feeling over my skin. When we finished, you pulled me down and kept me there like you never wanted me anywhere else ever again."

Kisame looked up at him from the ground, awed that Itachi even recalled that. He'd been sixteen at the time, his body fresh into adult maturity. "I was so angry." He admitted quietly. "I was so furious that you had to go there, to have  _that_ happen, because your father was such a selfish fuck. I knew you'd been crying, too. And . . .  _Fuck_ , it felt so terrible knowing that I couldn't do anything, that I couldn't help you."

"Kisame?"

The blue man released a ragged breath, the feelings obviously still not very foreign. "Yes?"

"I . . . " Itachi gulped before steeling and sliding down onto his boyfriend's lap, all pure naked grace. "I want you."

Long, broad fingers stroked over his face, trying to smooth away the deep lines in his cheeks that would never disappear.  _Are you sure?_ was the unspoken question that flashed across the shark's face. "I'm all yours. What do you want to do?"

Itachi looked down bashfully. " . . . On my back. I want to be on my back. That's all. I want you to decide the rest."

"Can I . . . " Kisame tucked his head into Itachi's shoulder. " . . . Can I bite you?"

"Anywhere you want. As hard as you want." One of Itachi's hands tangled in his hair, his lips brushing along the thick column of his neck. "I'm yours. I just . . . "

"Tell me, Itachi. You can tell me anything."

The raven sighed. "I just want to feel it again. I want to feel how bad you want me. I like it when you're gentle with me, but I want to know that you'll be rough with me without hesitation, too. Just like you used to be."

"How rough?"

Itachi smirked slyly at him, lips brushing his lover's ear as his voice dropped. "I want to feel your cock in my throat when you fuck me. I want to scream myself hoarse. I want to have trouble sitting down. I want to be so fucked out that I pass out. I want to feel  _pleasure_ again. Two months of torture and two months of silence . . . "

Kisame kissed up the smooth, creamy column of Itachi's throat, letting his teeth graze his jaw. "I promise I'll make that up to you."

* * *

 

Itachi awoke on Kisame's chest, the man still breathing long and slow. Reaching for his phone, it read midnight. He fired off a quick text to Sasuke and cuddled back into his lover, stupidly happy. 

_Thank you, Sasuke. I'm feeling much better now._

* * *

Sasuke came home late that morning covered in hickeys and trailed by Naruto. 

"You came, like, three times!" Naruto argued. 

"Still doesn't change the fact that you got to see me naked and I didn't get to see you."

The blonde groaned in frustration. "For fuck's sake, we've been through this!"

"Yes, and I am  _very_ much aware of the consequences of what seeing that seal are. Did you ever consider that I already know what will happen and that I've accepted it?"

The blonde, like yellow lightning, pinned the raven to the wall. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes."

Naruto looked like he'd been slapped. "Uh, okay. I don't think you heard me right. Will you  _marry me_?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes with a burdened sigh. " _Yes._ "

"Okay, once more-"

"I believe he said yes, Naruto-sama."

Both teens turned to look at Itachi, leaning against the doorway with an impish grin on his face. He looked like his old self again instead of the forced imitation from yesterday. So his text hadn't been lying.

Kisame appeared behind his lover, eyeing the two boys inquisitively. "Is it our turn to leave the floor?"

"No. Naruto owns a small house outside the city where we can go." Sasuke said before Naruto got any ideas. "Besides, I don't think you two could make it anywhere else before the next  _urge_ hits."

Itachi chuckled lowly. "Your clothes look clean. Kushina-haha?"

"Yeah." Sasuke grinned. "You should have heard her when I came out like this."

"Covered in bites and bruises?" Kisame snarked. 

Naruto grinned brightly. "I'm almost as thorough as you are."

Itachi gave a downright  _vicious_ smirk and turned, pulling his hair away from his neck. " _This_ thorough?"

Along the back of neck, a bite from the night before was scabbed over, the skin raised and pink. 

Naruto gulped. "Nope. I don't do skin breakage. Kurama might, though."

Sasuke shot him a horrified look. The blonde snorted. 

"You'll get used to it."

Itachi laughed, letting his hair fall once more. "Mmm . . . I think I'm feeling one of those  _urges_ . . . "

Sasuke cursed. Loudly. "Just let me get my shit and we'll go! Don't expect me for a week!"

Itachi grinned at Kisame, who smirked. "I think I can find someone to occupy me."

"Gross!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll do separate stories with the sex in it. Leave a comment if that's a good idea.


	30. They Of The Seal

Sasuke had insisted on being there when Naruto told his parents. 

"Look, I'm going to be their son-in-law soon anyways, right? If you're going to die, I might as well too."

Naruto took a deep breath. "Well then, I get to be there when you tell your brother."

Sasuke shrugged. "Okay. Be warned, Madara might want details."

Naruto cringed, but nodded. "Okay. Let's do this, then."

They left Naruto's room and found Minato laying on the couch, Kushina sleeping on his chest, ANBU reports scattered around her, as her husband serenely watched the Discovery channel. Blue eyes, so similar to Naruto's yet a shade lighter, blinked at the screen. "Huh. I didn't know fish could do that."

"Dad?" Naruto queried, knocking lightly on the door frame. Minato looked up, smiling brightly. 

"Oh! Naruto. Come in, come in. You can change the channel, if you'd like. I can't move to get the remote." He pet his wife's hair, his smile falling to a more tender one. 

"I- Uh,  _we_ have something to tell you." Naruto murmured, hands clenching at his side. Sasuke move just a little closer, so the skin of their arms brushed. 

The elder Namikaze blinked at him. Sasuke could tell that if he had been standing, his head would be cocked the slightest bit, almost puppyish in nature. "Has something happened? I didn't hear any Yamanaka."

"No, no. Konoha's fine." Naruto took another deep breath, for once in his life visibly afraid and nervous. "Please don't kill me."

Minato glanced down at his wife, resting after she hauled ass through the ANBU reports and finished them all. He didn't want to disturb her, but if something had Naruto this out of sorts, he didn't want his son too far away either. Instead, he patted the side of the couch, a gentle smile coming to his face. 

Naruto knelt in front of his father, Sasuke's hand clenched in a death grip. The Uchiha had known this was serious, but he didn't realize how serious it was  _for Naruto_. This was taking a lot of blind faith, trust and love for him to do this.  

A concerned frown came to Minato's face and he took his son's other hand. "Son, I know you're gay."

"I let Sasuke see my seal."

There. He'd said it.

Minato's eyes widened so much that under any other circumstance, it would have been really funny. He started to shake his wife. "Kushina! Kushina! Wake up!"

Naruto went stock still. The redhead blinked wearily awake, rubbing her eyes in a motion Sasuke recognized from Itachi's all-nighters at his company. "What is it, Minato?" She paused for a moment, horror colouring her voice. "Another report?"

"Naruto let Sasuke see!"

Kushina's hands were suddenly planted on his husband's chest, shock jolting her awake almost as fast as she sat up. "What?"

Naruto's tanned skin went white. "I-I know I'm a little young-"

Within seconds, fast enough that Sasuke hadn't seen her move, Kushina had tackled both boys to the ground, holding them tightly. 

"Oh Naruto! I'm so happy for you, baby!" She kissed all over his face and he couldn't help a giggle, all of the tension draining from his body.

"Thanks, Mom."

"And you." She turned on Sasuke and beamed at him. "Welcome to the family!"

"Thanks, Kushina-haha."

She sat up, exhaustion forgotten in favour of excitement. She clapped her hands together rapidly, face scrunched up in bliss. "I'm so happy for you two!"

Minato sat up from the couch, a similar, if more reserved, version of his wife's smile on his face. "Congratulations, you two."

"This calls for ramen!" Kushina laughed, jumping up and scampering off to the kitchen, Naruto following like a well-trained dog. 

"Right. Ramen." Sasuke sighed. "I'm going to have to get used to that, aren't I?"

Minato chuckled, helping Sasuke up before pulling him under a lean, but strong arm. "Don't worry too much. Naruto knows Kushina's recipe for tomato ramen."

"Really?" Kushina's tomato ramen was heaven on earth for Sasuke, almost more so than Itachi's pork roast slices fried in tomato sauce. 

Minato kissed his forehead. "Of course. Kushina's only been making it for you since you were a toddler. Naruto learned it as soon as he realized he was in love with you."

Sasuke smiled fondly. "Idiot."

Minato chuckled fondly. 

"I can hear you, Sasuke-Teme!"

* * *

Strangely, it was a similar affair when they returned to the Uchiha compound to tell Itachi. 

Itachi was laying on Kisame, both of them watching old re-runs of CSI and quietly discussing the best ways around modern technology. 

"That's why you shoot them again on the other side as soon as you can. it would confuse the hell out of them." Itachi replied before his eyes caught his brother's entrance. "Ah, Sasuke, Naruto. Care to weigh in?"

"Not really, Aniki."

"I find they can't really tell what the murder weapon was if it's a Rasengan."

Itachi chuckled. "I suppose not."

Itachi was draped across Kisame's much larger body, his hair loose, but brushed out. Both men were in their regular dark jeans, but opted out of shirts. 

Kisame seemed to sense something weighing on them. "You're back awfully early from the Hokage's house."

"I had to tell my parents something." Naruto beamed, the same smile still plastered on his face from when Sasuke had kissed him during dinner in front of his parents. "Now it's Sasuke's turn."

Kisame raised an eyebrow, but Itachi sat up, a serious expression coming to his face. 

Sasuke suddenly fell the same weight that Naruto must have been. Silently, Naruto took his hand. "I saw Naruto's seal, Aniki."

"I see." Itachi straightened his back. "Accidentally?"

"No." Itachi had teased him not even a week ago about saying yes to marriage! What had changed so suddenly?! "I'm on for the whole ride."

Itachi stalked forward, then threw his arms around his little brother, pulling the startled teen closer. He felt a smile in the kiss he received. "Congratulations, Otouto."

Sure, his big brother's response was nothing compared to the enthusiasm of the Uzumaki-Namikaze household, but Itachi's serene pride in him was worth more to him than if Itachi had cheered. He hugged his brother back, squeezing him tightly.

When the elder raven pulled back, he smiled at Naruto. "You two decide what you'd like to do. I've not problem paying for anything."

"No, we'll pay t-"

"Naruto." Itachi admonished softly. "My pockets run almost as deep as the Konoha treasury. I'll pay."

The blonde nodded once before he plastered himself to Sasuke's side. The younger raven turned to his lover's ear and his voice dropped into a whisper. "Pay for what?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "The wedding."

"Oh. Right. When will that be happening?"

"Rules of Konoha say sixteen. Law says eighteen." Itachi supplied, settling back down like an overgrown cat on Kisame's chest. "You could wait two years and we'll have the binding and legal ceremonies at once. We could go to Japan for it, even, if you'd like. Have it in the Ancestral Village."

Naruto's eyes widened. "You've been to the Ancestral Village Hidden In The Leaves? In the Region of Fire?"

Itachi grinned. "I was born there. Mother and I lived there for four years before she married Fugaku and we moved to America."

Sasuke cocked his head. "I didn't know you are natural Japanese. Am I?"

"You're not, no. You're very much American."

"Then let's do that." Naruto beamed. "We'll wait and do it in Japan."

Sasuke looked at the older couple. "Why isn't there any rings between you two? No wedding plans in the future?"

Itachi blinked. "It never occurred to me, honestly."

"Me neither." Kisame admitted. "I should go look for rings."

"Tell you what. I'll give you my credit card and you can take Naruto for rings. I'll take Sasuke."

Kisame grinned. "You're willing to let me play with your money?"

Itachi scoffed. "As if you could put a dent in the amount of money I have."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and pulled his idiot blonde down to the floor, leaning against him once they were seated. Naruto wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him in closer, stealing a kiss from him. 

 


	31. Time Flies

Sasuke was sixteen when Obito married Rin. A year later, Kisame proposed to Itachi, who accepted with a smile worthy of Naruto. He insisted, however, that their engagement last until after Sasuke married and he could find a woman willing to bear his heir or heiress. During that year, shortly after Kisame's proposal, Kushina brought up the planning for Sasuke and Naruto's own wedding. 

"Itachi suggested we go to the Ancestral Village for our wedding." Sasuke commented, bent over the wedding books. Kushina popped upright, grinning ear to ear. 

"That's a great idea! We can even invite Mikoto, then!"

Sasuke looked up, puzzled. "Mikoto?"

Naruto chuckled and whispered. "Your mother. Normally, surrogates aren't allowed to see their children after, but since your mother married your father, she's allowed into the wedding party. She was a surrogate when she had Itachi, though, so I'm not sure about his wedding."

"Itachi will invite Mother, no doubt about it." Sasuke replied, flipping to another page. "He misses her something terrible."

* * *

Even before Obito and Rin's marriage, Sasuke had started to train under the tutelage of his brother, his lover, his old English teacher and a curious snake man by the name of Orochimaru.

Itachi taught him all about the native Uchiha fire style as well as his Sharingan, even guiding him right up to the point of gaining his Mangekyo. From there, He taught him about the Susan'oo, the technique he used against Fugaku. Sasuke's turned out a lovely purple. He also served, at home, as a Kenjutsu teacher, even going to far as to give Sasuke a legendary katana, the Sword of Kusanagi. 

Naruto was his taijutsu instructor. Much more forgiving than Madara, the blonde taught him how to use his smaller frame to his advantage as well as funnelling chakra into physical attacks to multiply damage. 

Kakashi was his ninjutsu teacher. He was talented in the field, knowing all of the basics for every type of release. With the addition of teaching the teenager Chidori, Kakashi's signature move, he also helped in the development of the Chidori Blade, both with and without Kusanagi.

Orochimaru was a different sort of teacher. Much of the time, the snake master would take them out into the depths of the woods and tell him to reach out with his senses for life. It took almost six months, filled with Orochimaru's patience and Sasuke's bitching, but the Uchiha finally managed to feel what Hashirama described as 'nature chakra'. Indeed, as the Senju described, Hashirama's chakra and the nature chakra felt exactly the same. It was a strange sensation, as Orochimaru said it would be, to let the nature chakra gather in his body and store in a pool outside his normal chakra coils. It wasn't long before Orochimaru had him make a contract with an animal that called to him. And so he met Hector, a massive hawk with a sharp attitude, who would be his main summon. It was after this that he met his teacher's summons.

Itachi had a contract he'd formed when he was still small, living with his mother in the Ancestral Village. It was a female raven by the name Shiatsu. Naruto's was a slightly lopsided fox, in a strange yellow and white combination, named Menma. Fitting, if ironic. Kakashi's was an unimpressed pug named Pakkun. 

"Seems to me like your summon is American." Orochimaru commented. "My summon is Manda, despite him being a massive pain in the ass."

Hector scoffed. "That old roach?"

Shiatsu sighed, ruffling her feathers. "I would keep my beak shut, hotshot. Manda's older than your family line."

"Take that back, you crow-caller!"

"Excuse me?!"

"C'mon guys." Menma sighed, shaking his head next to Pakkun, who looked thoroughly unimpressed. "This really isn't the best impression on the Uchiha."

"Who knew they would fight this much." Itachi muttered. "You can go home, Shiatsu."

She inclined her head with dignity, bowing before she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Pompous raven." Hector snorted. "Just because she's Japanese, she thinks she's the shit. America is a much better land to live in than whatever sparse tree she flew in from."

Naruto picked Menma up, petting the pale golden fur. The fox cuddled into Naruto's arms, resting his head on a bicep. 

"I think it's time we end training for today." Orochimaru decided. "Release Hector once you've signed the contract and I'll see you tomorrow."

Sasuke nodded and the small crowd dispersed in a series of clouds. 

* * *

From the doorway to the dojo, Madara watched Sasuke clash swords with Itachi, who was clad in his old general ANBU raiment. The squeemish sixteen year old had grown into a man before his eyes. Both of them had. 

He could remember when Itachi and Sasuke were small, when they would run and play in the backyard of Fugaku's house when the man was gone. That was before the asshole had banished Madara, Izuna and their boys. Mikoto always watched them play with kind fondness, teaching Sasuke how to braid Itachi's hair when they got tired or bored of their games. Itachi would then braid Mikoto's lengthy hair as she folded clean laundry on the back deck. Obito, in his small years, had even taken up the habit on his own father's hair, though it proved a chore simply to brush out. Shisui had an easier time with Izuna, but not by much. 

Now, they were men. Both engaged to strong and powerful men who loved them. Naruto had the dedication of a saint, second only to Hashirama himself. Kisame was a passive lover, much like Itachi, and their willingness to adapt to each other's needs kept them happy and carefree. 

Without thinking about it, Madara fingered the ring hanging about his neck as the diamonds along Sasuke's engagement pendant shimmered in the sunlight, bouncing out of his shirt and off his chest. Itachi' engagement bracelet, three pieces of pure polished onyx held together by tiny silver clasps, sped past Sasuke's face, the teen barely dodging the fist. 

His little Obito, who he remembered being at the birth of, was married now. It seemed so abrupt, suddenly, how fast his family had grown up. It wasn't that he disliked Rin - ont he contrary, he loved the girl like a daughter. Both of her parents were killed soon after she was assigned to Minato's Genin team and Sakumo Hatake had been more than happy to adopt a girl into the clan. Obito had begged him to originally, but he had refused. Had he of, there would be no legal way for his son to marry his childhood fantasy. While Obito had disappeared to live with Izuna for almost six months, Madara stood fast and had won out in the end. Obito had thanked him hundreds of times since he started dating her for doing as he had done. 

 _How fast it goes_. Madara mused.  _I almost miss those days when they would come home to show me their report cards. When they wanted to see my kunai and touch my shuriken._

Itachi broke Sasuke's block and caught him around the throat, a kunai posed dangerously over his younger brother's throat. 

"Good match, Sasuke, but you're not fast enough to beat me yet."

"Who said it was over?" Sasuke kicked Itachi's blade away and they began, yet again, diving head-first into a taijutsu match. 

_And yet, I'm happy seeing it all play out._

Itachi and Sasuke, in their maturity, were happier than they had ever been. They were equals, no secrets forcing them apart, and nothing to shield each other from. Sasuke had developed a bit thicker than Itachi, who resembled more of a dancer than a gymnast. His hair had grown down to his shoulders, giving him a roguish look. His Sharingan blazed brightly, emphasized by the exuberant grin on his face. 

"They make a terrifying duo, don't they?" Hashirama whispered, arms coming to wrap around his body. 

"Almost as scary as me and Izuna."

"Only because you look like you're wearing a weave of rose stems."

Madara pouted. "Still scarier."

Hashirama chuckled and nuzzled him. "And that's what I love about you."

* * *

"What is it?"

Sasuke's eyes remained glued to the man approaching his brother. "I just have a bad feeling, Naruto."

It was a mid-summer's evening and they were strolling around the mall - not early enough to be during dinner hours, but not late enough to be the only wanderers, either. 

"If it isn't Itachi Uchiha!" The man exclaimed, a smile plastered over his face. "Long time no see!"

Itachi gazed at him and blinked, taking a minute to register the man. "Lucas. Yes, it has been some time, huh?"

"Man." Lucas eyed him up and down, practically leering despite the public setting. "You're still as gorgeous as ever."

"Thank you." Itachi looked him over appraisingly, like he was a cut of meat at a deli counter. "How did it work out with Isabella?"

Lucas pouted. "Are you still burned about that?"

"Let's just say that time has not sweetened the memory."

"Well, it wasn't like I was the only one exploring my options. What about your big, blue fuck buddy?"

Itachi frowned. "I've never been unfaithful in any of my relationships, including you. And Kisame was and  _is_ my partner in business. What I'm involved in requires a partnership on the job. I told you that he would be around a lot when we first started dating."

"You never told me he was going to he there  _constantly_."

"The time I spent away from him I spent  _alone_ because you were to busy stuffing your face with as much of Isabella's clit as you could fit in that obnoxious mouth of yours. And let me guess, she didn't give you a pity blowjob either."

"Why are you so burned, Itachi?"

"Because I cared enough about you to try and make it work. You didn't. Did you expect that  _not_ to hurt me?"

"It's not that I didn't care about you."

"You simply cared more about the wetness of your cock rather than the love you were offered." 

"Look, I didn't want to argue with you."

"Then you should have kept walking."

"I wanted to know if you were still available."

Itachi reared back as if slapped. "What kind of a whore do you mistake me for? Did you think that after you came home to an apartment empty of me that I would be waiting somewhere else, pining for you?"

"Frankly, yes. I'm the best lay you've ever had."

Itachi genuinely laughed. "Oh, Lucas, Lucas, Lucas." He laid a friendly hand on the other man's shoulder. "I had two better lays than you before the age of thirteen. But here, have this." Itachi put twenty dollars in his pocket. "Since you're not above grovelling."

It was Lucas' turn to be offended. "What did your blue bodyguard dig up on me, huh? What lies did he tell you to get you into his bed? it couldn't have been that hard."

Itachi sneered. "At least he had a bed."

"So you were fucking him!"

A mother across the hall gave the two a dirty look, shooing her children along. 

Itachi smirked, leaning in to whisper into the man's ear. "Damn right I did. He fucked me long and slow. Melted my brain out of my ears it was so good. I get aroused just thinking about it. How massive he stood over me, how good it felt to be pinned down my someone who knew what they were doing to me. Mmm, I could hardly move the next day. I was so overloaded and consumed by him, how tender and compassionate he was, that when he told me he loved me the next morning,  _I fucking believed him_."

"And how did that turn out for you?"

Itachi pulled away, leaning on a wall. "Pretty good, actually. We're getting married next year."

"You're marrying him?! Because of one night of what sounds like mediocre sex?"

"I'm marrying him because I actually love him. I should have been with him to begin with instead of wasting my time with you. But I should thank you. You made our union worth so much more."

"So there's no way I can get a second chance at you?"

"Never." Itachi replied, fingering the bracelet. "I'll never belong to another like I belong to him, no matter what happens between us."

At that moment, Kisame emerged out of Cinnabon. Without paying any heed to the man Itachi was facing down, he handed the half-hot chocolate, half-coffee to his fiance. "Jyst hold on a minute and I'll open the cinnamon roll."

"It's okay. I think Naruto and Sasuke already found a bench to watch the show."

Kisame looked up at him, puzzled. "Show?"

Itachi tossed his head towards Lucas and Kisame blinked. "You're the rat bastard who was eating out that hooker with HIV."

"Isabella isn't a hooker and neither did she have HIV." Lucas exclaimed. 

Kisame just turned back to Itachi. "C'mon then. Better not keep the brat waiting. You know how Naruto is about sweet-"

Itachi pulled him down and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. A soft smile came to his face and his brother could tell Itachi had completely forgotten about Lucas. "Lead on."

Kisame smiled back and pulled the smaller man under one arm, bringing him in close for a long kiss. "Definitely. The rolls will get cold." They kissed again until Sasuke got fed up. 

"We're waiting over here!" The younger Uchiha yelled. Still, the couple was loathe to pull away. When they did, they smiled stupidly at each other as they walked over to the other couple.

 _He must really love that shark freak_ , Lucas thought.  _He never once looked at me that way. I was hard pressed to get lust from him._

Despite the relative lack of wanderers, Itachi and Kisame still got dirty looks as Kisame pulled the small man down onto his lap, feeding his sweet-toothed raven small pieces of the roll until he got to shove the whole centre into his mouth. 

Itachi seemed to have no trouble fielding this as he kissed his lover on the cheek again. "Thank you for giving me the centre."

"Eh. You like these way more than I do."

"One can never have enough sweets." Itachi said, head dipping sagely. 

"Which is why I'm lucky I've got you."

Itachi scoffed. "You're already getting laid tonight. No need to work for it."

"I know. You deserve to hear it as much as you can feel it."

Itachi smiled tenderly at him once more before gliding to a stand and waving the others onto their feet. "We should get going. I don't want to have sex in this mall."

"Good God, Aniki! I don't want to know!"

 

 


	32. Opening Ceremonies

Mikoto was startled by a light knock on the front door. This was Itachi's personal floor in his Japan office and no one,  _not a living soul,_ would come up here without previous permission. She'd been here for almost three years now and she'd never had it happen once.  _  
_

Cautiously, a finger curled into the ring on the end of the kunai in her sleeve, she opened the door.

The handsome faces of her boys smiled back at her.

The world fell out from under her and her hands clasped over her mouth, partly in shock and partly to keep herself from starting to grossly sob. Her boys. Her boys were here and smiling and  _happy_.

"Hey, kaa-san." Sasuke beamed. "It's been a while."

He wasn't sickly. His body didn't look like it would give out on him at any moment now. His skin was still pale, but coloured with a healthy tint of rose. His frame had thickened, muscles visible through the clingy tee he wore and the snug jeans. 

She couldn't help it as she pulled him into a tight hug. "You're okay. Kami-sama, you're okay."

She could feel his smile in her shoulder as he hugged her back. "Itachi's taken good care of me."

"We've taken care of each other." Itachi corrected, gently stroking down her back. 

She pulled back and wiped her eyes, trying to regain her composure. "Kami-sama above, I'm so happy to see you."

Itachi chuckled and pulled her in, kissing her forehead like she used to do to him. "We're staying for a bit."

"Business?"

He shook his head, casting a meaningful glance over at his brother. "We have something to tell you."

She looked between the two and Sasuke giggled like a little boy. "What, then?"

"I'm getting married to Naruto." Sasuke giggled again, vibrating with nervous and excited energy. "We decided to have the ceremony in the Ancestral Village."

"Naruto? Kushina and Minato's son?"

"That's the one."

She squealed, clapping her hands together. "Show me the ring!"

Sasuke pulled a thin silver chain from within his shirt, a golden band resting in the valley of the chain. The ring itself was a simple affair, much like the man who had given it to him. A rare stone, a murky cyan in colour, was set in the middle, cut like a low-rise pyramid. On either side, there was one small diamond, cut circular. Naruto had a necklace very similar, with that same stone cut long with two silver balls on either side. It was given to him as a joint gift by Tsunade and Hashirama when he'd been Sealed. 

"It's beautiful." She cooed. 

" 'Tachi-nii's engaged too." Sasuke grinned. 

She snapped her head around to her eldest. "About time! To who?"

Itachi laughed. "I had a comrade when I went spying for Minato-sama in the Akatsuki. His name was Kisame. I'm marrying him."

"Do you have a ring?"

"We did bracelets instead." Itachi held out his left hand.

The joy fell from her face as she gently cradled his hand. "What happened?"

"Pardon?"

"Your hand. It looks like someone stomped on it."

Itachi went pale. "They did. But it's unimportant. It happened a while ago."

She gave him an assessing look. "Any other things I should know?"

He looked away. "Much of my torso is littered in scars as well. I also have a bite mark on my shoulder, but you've seen that before, I'm sure. I've had that since I was eighteen. Anyway, that's from Kisame."

She closed the front door and leaned against it, voice lowered. "This is Fugaku's doing, isn't it?"

Sasuke looked worriedly at his brother. 

"He's responsible for what happened to you, isn't he?"

Itachi would not meet her gaze. 

"How long,  _musuko_?

"Sasuke was four."

She startled both of them by slamming her closed fist against the door, scowling through the betrayed tears. "I should have trained before I left. I should have learned when I was a girl, like my mother wanted me to. I could have protected you from Fugaku then. I could have kept him away from you. All of you."

Itachi moved closer to their mother. "No one could have saved Tajima.

"I could have!" Her furious gaze turned on him and he froze. "I could have defended myself when the gender results came back. I should have taken you and ran then."

"We were already living in the Village when you got pregnant with her. Where else would we have gone?" Itachi whispered back. 

"Anywhere. It would have stopped him from touching you." She released a tense breath, softening before she took her eldest's hand again, stroking over the scars. "I'm sorry."

"Kaasan, there's no need to worry." Itachi said. "I . . . I killed Fugaku two years ago."

"Did you or did Madara?"

"I watched him." Sasuke tossed in. "Itachi sealed him away with the Totsuka Blade."

Once again, their mother's eyes widened in shock. "You have the Totsuka Blade?"

"And the Yata Mirror." Her mouth fell open and he nodded. "That's right. Just like the ancient records written by Sasuke himself."

" 'Ancient' and 'Sasuke' don't go together, I hope you know." The younger brother pouted. 

"No, no." Mikoto shook her head. "You were born in America, so you've never seen them. In the Village, there are massive archives sorted by family. In the Uchiha archives, there are memoirs written by Uchiha Sasuke, the only survivor of the Uchiha Clan Massacre in the Old Village. He wrote out the entire story of the Massacre, including his final battle with his elder brother, the one who committed the atrocity."

"Sasuke fought Itachi to the death, succeeding due to a terminal illness Itachi had hidden away from his comrades." Itachi said. "It gets very confusing to talk about, but many of the people you know, you can find in the old scrolls. Some of the sages that were around when I was a child said that this was the era of rebirth. They said that many ancient and strong powers would come back into being."

"It was without knowing much of anything about these stories that I named you boys." She sighed. "One of the sages said it was destiny when Tajima was stillborn. He told me that my next would be a son, a Sasuke, and that the Last Brothers would be reunited to live together properly. It was eerie, looking through Sasuke-sama's writings. He had a sketch there, done by someone who looked to be an impressive artist that only operated under the title 'Sai', that looks identical to your brother. Right down to the lines in his face."

"What about Sasuke?"

"There are several sketches of him, done again by Sai. However, they're in the Uzumaki vault." Itachi explained. "The Seventh Hokage of the Old Village was Naruto Uzumaki, his father, Minato Namikaze, being the Fourth. He had a vault made for his family separate of his wife's Hyuuga vault. Sai stored much of his art there, as well as in the Yamanaka vault. Most of what's within are memoirs, written testimonies and official shinobi reports for missions."

"Kushina and Mito Uzumaki are both mentioned in those scrolls." Mikoto commented. "Even the pairing of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha is recorded in a marriage license. Madara and Izuna's names also appear, but they're much older than Naruto's records. Shisui and Obito appear there too, though more is written about them by Sasuke than any official documents."

"Wow." Sasuke gasped. 

"I should take you there sometime. I can teach you to read the ancient characters." Itachi smiled faintly. The man was such a bookworm. 

"I'd like that."

Suddenly, Mikoto laughed. "Wow, this got off topic. You were going to show me your engagement ring and now we're talking about the Old Village. Come on now, I want to see your rocks!"

Itachi shook his head and gave her his hand again. "I told you, we went with bracelets instead. we're going to wear our rings on special necklaces, but the engagement band is a bracelet."

She examined it very thoroughly. "I like it. Simple and sweet. Something I have a feeling runs through the very core of your relationship with this man."

Itachi flushed in a way he rarely did without being drunk. "He is very sweet. You'll love him."

"Not at first glance, but he is definitely smitten with my brother." Sasuke butted in.

"Not at first glance?"

Itachi sighed. "He's not what one would call . . . ah . . . 'classically handsome'. Not even effeminate, like my brother and I."

"I am not effeminate!"

"I see." She kissed his nose. "As long as he makes you happy, darling."

"He does. He really does."

She turned to her pouting youngest. "And what about you?"

"Naruto's nice."

Itachi smirked evilly. "That's not what you were saying on the plane."

Sasuke turned red. "Shut up, Itachi!"

"I have a feeling that's  _exactly_ what he was saying on the plane."

"Oh, God! Mom, no! Stop! I can't take pervertedness from you!"

"Then why were you having sex on the plane?"

"MOM!"


	33. Spouses

Mikoto wasted no time setting up rooms for her family. Soon after her sons appeared at her door, Madara, Izuna, Shisui, Obito and their lovers showed up in short order. Hashirama, Tobirama and even the lovely Rin she knew, but for the love of her, she couldn't understand Tobi. The clownish man vaguely resembled an Uchiha, but for the love of her, she couldn't understand what Shisui would see in him for a lover. 

He must be a blast in the sack.

Well, it wasn't her place to comment on her nephew's choice of lover. Instead, she hugged him and kissed a cloth-covered swatch of cheek. "Welcome, Tobi. How was the plane ride?"

She was sure if she could have seen his face, it would have been lit up vibrant pink. "Thank you, Mikoto-san! Tobi got to sit next to Shisui on Itachi-san's private jet, so it was very nice. Shisui slept on Tobi's shoulder." Without thinking about it, his hand came up to cup the shoulder Shisui must have rested on. 

Well, maybe she did see it.

* * *

Seeing Naruto again after the two years she'd spent in Japan plus however long it had been since Fugaku had forbidden her from going over to the Namikaze-Uzumaki household alone, was a shock. 

The blonde stood six feet even, four inches over Sasuke, and his blonde hair had grown a little shaggy, but not quite the length of his father's. Adulthood had given him a thinned face, though a slightly rounded jaw to suit his jubilance. He had grown into a broader kind of frame, much like Hashirama. His shoulders stood further apart than Sasuke's and his torso was thicker, but the Uzumaki was made of legs, for sure. Legs that stretched for days.

"My, my. Didn't you turn out handsome!" She gushed, taking a chance to feel down Naruto's tight abdomen. 

"Hehe, I guess you could say that." The blonde rubbed the back of his head. Sasuke snorted from the couch. 

"You never flush that colour when I tell it to you."

Challenge flashed across the blue eyes. "That's because you only say it when I'm pounding you."

As she watched Sasuke drag Naruto off, Mikoto supposed that she wouldn't see them for a while.

* * *

Kisame . . . 

Well, she didn't know  _what_ to make of Kisame. 

It was obviously a pretty common reaction to him, because Kisame just gave her a small smile before bowing. "It's good to meet you, Mikoto-san. I've heard a lot of good things about you from the whole family."

"Well, I look forward to learning about you." She smiled. 

"Mikoto-san, just say what's on your mind."

Before she could stop herself, she opened her mouth. "I didn't expect you to be so tall."

Kisame blinked at her before he started to chuckle. "I stand six foot six without shoes. With my boots, I'm six eight."

"Wow. how does Itachi kiss you?"

"I jump." Her son answered pleasantly from the kitchen. "Or he bends."

Sasuke snorted. Madara barked out a laugh. Tobi cocked his head.

Kisame shook his head, a fond smile on his lips. "I bend."

Suddenly, pale arms and legs encased in dark denim wrapped around Kisame's neck and hips. Itachi's head appeared on his shoulder, a smile gracing his lips that was so calm and peaceful she couldn't remember ever seeing it on him. 

"I jump." He muttered before kissing gill-like marks on the man's neck. Kisame squirmed.

" 'Tachi, not in front of your mother."

Mikoto rolled her eyes. "Sex-crazed, the lot of you."

"Mother dearest, if not this, then what?" Madara teased from the living room. "I mean, you haven't really even gotten a chance to look at Hashirama and me yet."

"I already know about you two." She smirked, her soft face melting into something distinctly  _Uchiha_. "You make gay sex look like a sport."

Izuna choked on his water and Rin burst out into giggles.

Madara paled and turned to his husband. "Holy shit. We  _do_ fuck a lot."

Hashirama raised an eyebrow. "You just clued in now?"

"You knew all along?"

"I  _am_ the person who fucks you. I get to deal with you horny at three A.M." _  
_

"I'm not that bad."

"Beg to differ."

"Pervert!"

Hashirama was thrown so out of sorts by the statement, one he hadn't heard in years with Madara's libido the way it was, that he reverted to Japanese. " _Hentai? Hentai?!_ "

"This is going to get ugly." Itachi said, sage-like in his wisdom. "I'll buy dinner for whoever wants to come."

"Can we do Japanese ramen? Ichiraku's is around here, right?"

"You and your ramen!"

Itachi sighed, serenely resting his head against Kisame's neck. "Let's just go. Kaasan, I'm taking you and Kisame out for dinner. The rest of them can fend for themselves."

 

 


	34. The Ancestral Village

Sasuke had thought they would never come out of the forest. However, he was met with two massive doors, the same green as the leaves, with massive kanji painted in red across it. Across the top there were various other symbols he didn't recognize, save for the stylized leaf that he recognized from shoulder patches on his friends' jackets and the breast pockets of all of the 'employees' within the Uchiha complex. 

"These are the doors." Itachi smiled, dropping the rucksack he'd been carrying. "We have to change out here."

"Huh? Change?"

Itachi grinned at him. "We're not allowed to bring anything from the outside world into Konohagakure. We have to wear the traditional clothes of our rank inside."

"And what rank am I?"

"I believe with this last test, you became Chuunin. I've brought you Uchiha robes instead of regular Chuunin garb, though."

"And you?"

Itachi's grin turned cheeky. "I was a General ANBU captain by the time I was thirteen. I already have some."

* * *

Sasuke felt strange in the wide, hollow collar of the Uchiha robes. The flak jacket also felt a little stiff against him, the pants too loose despite the tape around his thighs and shins. The 'boots', too, were really odd, without the toes or heels covered. And then there was Itachi.

He was dressed in black pants that fit him like leggings, also taped on around the thigh and shin. His boots were black instead of navy and were only missing the toes. His upper body wear consisted of a tank top with a turtleneck and white armour plating supported by thick white straps. He had long black gloves, too, with sharp nails extending from the end of each finger. More white armour was strapped to his forearm and small steel plates were riveted into the back of the hand. A little bit of tape held the glove up. With these clothes on, both of his ANBU tattoos were visible: the one on his left shoulder, tealish to match Minato's chakra and the one on his right, which was a blood red. He also bore a weasel mask, stylized after the old death masks used on the funerary pyres. 

"Why do you get to look cool? I feel like I'm not even wearing pants." Sasuke grouched. 

"That's good. The pants are made loose so that you can move easily in them. If you don't feel like you're wearing them, they're working."

"And yours?"

"All I can feel is my breastplate." Itachi said, adjusting it. "Mind you, it wasn't that long ago that I was working for Kushina in this."

"How long?"

"Maybe six months? I like working ANBU instead of running them all the time. It's nice to be told what to do every once in a while." Itachi grinned and lead them over to the massive gate. He did a couple of hand signs before he pressed his palm to the ancient wood. "Step back, Sasuke."

With nary a groan to announce their coming, the gates swung open.

"Woah." 

Itachi nodded. "It was a seal. You place another, specific seal on top of it and it acts like a pass code. The pass code lets you in, but doesn't deactivate the seal around the doors."

"This is amazing."

Inside, traditional people roamed around, chatting with each other under ancient awnings and at old stalls. 

"I was born here." Itachi said quietly. 

Sasuke spun around on him. "What?"

"I was born and raised in this village." Itachi smiled. "I was four the first time I seen Fugaku. Until then, it had been just me and Mother living within the Uchiha estate here. She was born in the village too, but moved out with an aunt who lived in Tokyo. She came back here once she was hired to be a surrogate."

"So you . . . ?"

Itachi couldn't stop smiling. "I was raised reading and speaking the Ancient Tongue, then weened into new Japanese. Imagine how hard it was to learn English."

"Shit."

"That's why, when you were little, Mother and I would teach you the English word and Japanese one at the same time. 

"So . . . you can read all the kanji around here? You can speak it?"

"Yes. Come, I'll show you the Hokage Mountain."

"The wha-"

"Itachi-kun! My, you've grown!"

Itachi stopped and turned, eyes widening. "Genma? Raido?"

The man with a senbon in his mouth chuckled. "Still in the ANBU getup I see."

"I can't say I expected to see you here. What's the occasion?"

"Hatake didn't tell you?" Genma shook his head. "We've gotten ourselves a surrogate and she's giving birth soon. We wanted to be here when she does."

"I didn't know you two wanted a child."

"It was a snap decision, really." Raido explained. "An old friend of mine from here offered to get pregnant for us. Her only condition, aside from the payment, was that the child's  first years are spent here. So, we got leave from Kakashi to come back here and serve under his clan in the village."

"I'm liking the baggy pants." Genma added. "No need for underwear."

Itachi shook his head fondly. "Just doesn't have any sexcapades where the little ones will find you."

Raido paled. "Definitely not."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"We're not having sex in front of children!"

" _Anywhere_ is in front of children. They're nosy little fuckers . . . "

As they left the couple to argue, Sasuke cringed. 

"You know those two?"

"I served with Genma under Kakashi in the ANBU. I met Raido when Kakashi invited me over for a dinner. Genma and Raido are his other two Men. Rin is, too, but he counts her as a Medical, despite being more of a fighter for him than a healer."

"And you're friends with Genma?"

Itachi ruffled his hair. "Don't be too freaked out by him. Genma is a hormone that walks as a man. He's constantly got sex on the brain. Raido is more reserved, so they keep each other in check."

"Good."

"What? Nervous about seeing Genma's ass?"

"Eww! God, Itachi!"

* * *

The Uchiha residence was more like a small town tacked onto the border of Konohagakure. It was massive and lively, filled to the brim with people of all variations, all of them his relations.

"So, how broad is the gene pool here?"

Itachi glanced at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye. "The Uchiha clan is massive. Some of us bear genes as close as you and Naruto do. Other times, they can be second or third cousins and share genes like we do. However, we've made a lot of moves outside the clan in the last four centuries and brought new people from lesser or unknown clans into our midst. It's weakened us a little, but the strength of the Sharingan is resurfacing in people like our family." Itachi bent down so he was whispering in his brother's ear. "Those of us that are more pure to the Uchiha bloodline have black hair and eyes coupled with pale skin. See how many there are with brown, blonde and even white?"

"So what about Mother and Father? They both had black hair and eyes and pale skin."

"Mother was a lucky one that kept many of the Uchiha genes, despite coming from a very mixed family. Father was almost pure Uchiha. He was the first son of the American family, after all. Madara and Izuna had a different mother than Father did, though, so their purity is lessened somewhat."

"Is it bad to be mixed?"

"Not really." Itachi pulled back and strode normally again. "Nagato was an interesting reaction, actually, due to Uchiha mixing. His mother was an Uzumaki-dominated Senju who was a surrogate for an Uchiha man. Something in their chakra mixed and he got the Rinnegan, a powerful mix of the Uchiha's Sharingan and the Senju's inherent nature chakra, not to mention Uzumaki unpredictability."

Sasuke's brow furrowed. "What about Yahiko, then?"

"Yahiko was the subject of an assassination attempt. It left him paralyzed. In an effort to help him, Nagato implanted from DNA from his eyes into Yahiko's and inserted chakra antenna all over Yahiko's body."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "The piercings."

"Exactly. With those, Yahiko could essentially move himself through Nagato, his chakra network restored through the bars. Now, Yahiko, too, has the Rinnegan and Nagato's power, but to a lesser degree."

"That's amazing."

Itachi smiled. "It is. It is truly amazing what we can do, all without medicine or surgery. We shinobi are amazing creatures, blessed creatures, and we can never forget that. We keep this village as a reminder, as a living way to understand all of the struggles we've undergone to get here, how lucky we are to exist at all, and what we owe to the people who are not so blessed. This is why the world has never heard of us, and never will."


	35. The Tale Of The Uchiha Brothers

Mikoto peered around the corner, the dim light of an old kerosene lamp (converted to run on electricity) burning low. Itachi was sitting on the floor, back against the bookshelves and scroll coves, Sasuke curled against his side with his head on his brother's shoulders. Parchments were stacked around them, scrolls sitting neatly in piles of three. 

Her boys were sitting under the section "Uchiha Sasuke" and under the subsection "The Uchiha Massacre" and "Uchiha Itachi."

" _He died just like that, there in front of me. I don't remember anything after that, just that I collapsed._ " Itachi read aloud, his voice tinged once more with the ancient weariness his accent in the Ancient Tongue. " _Thinking back on it, I'm not sure who really won. Was it me? Was it Itachi? He was obviously the more powerful. He could have taken my eyes and all of his problems would have been gone. The darkness of his sealing Sharingan would once more be lit, the world more than an indistinct blur of voices and passing fancies. But he died right there, his lips stretched in a smile I couldn't hope to understand; just as one does not comprehend the spider's web until they are the spider. All that leaves left if to fall victim to it, or fight your way out._ "

"Shit." Sasuke murmured, clinging tighter to Itachi. "So, Uchiha Itachi killed everyone? The whole clan?"

"Yes." Itachi wrapped an arm around his younger brother. "Do you want me to keep reading, or do you want to go get something to eat?"

"Keep reading, 'Tachi-nii."

" _It was Uchiha Obito disguised as Uchiha Madara that took me away from that place. He'd taken Itachi's eyes, taken them to implant into me. He told me then, all about the truth of the Massacre. Every last detail that I mentioned in the_ Massacre _scroll. And I . . . I didn't know what to do with myself. How could I believe him? It had to be lies, didn't it? I didn't know what to feel. I so desperately_ needed _it to be true, to justify what I'd done . . . It killed me inside to acknowledge how wrong I truly was. Not just because I was wrong, Kami, I've been wrong more than I've ever hoped to be right, but because I had to finally accept that I'd killed a saint in human flesh, that I had lead Itachi to this life, that I was the whole reason he raised a blade to the clan in the first place. I have no doubts in my mind that had he decided against it, he would have no qualms dying with the rest of the clan. He lived his life for me, cared for me and loved me and I snarled and spit insults his way, **I took his life.** But then again, I suppose, I fulfilled the last  of his true wishes. He didn't want to live with that on his mind. I also understand why he would want me to remember him so horridly. Had he told me all that Tobi did . . . I would have never been able to kill him. I couldn't have done it. And if I did, I fear I would have followed too soon after him._ "

"I knew he couldn't be evil." Sasuke murmured again. Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

Sasuke yawned. "There had to be another reason. There's always another motivation. It's no different than you hiding the shinobi world from me. You did exactly what Uchiha Itachi did." The younger laughed lightly. "And I reacted just about as badly as Uchiha Sasuke."

Itachi chuckled, the sound low and old, as if ages' worth of wisdom and knowledge sat heavily upon him. 

 _I suppose it does._ Mikoto thought.  _He's an old soul, my son. So wrought with harsh choices and a harder reality. No doubt also of Fugaku's making, the asshole._

She retreated back to the base of the stairs, silent as a mouse. Sasuke wasn't the only one that got their training over the last few years. "Boys! Are you down here?"

Distantly, she heard Itachi and Sasuke put away the papers. It was Sasuke that answered her, his voice warm and thick with contentment and love. "Coming Haha! We're just putting away some scrolls Itachi was reading me!"

"Hurry up then! Dinner's ready!"

* * *

"Those robes are atrocious."

Madara looked from Sasuke over to Hashirama and eyed his husband. "Well, Senju robes never were flattering."

Hashirama pouted. "He was talking to you too."

"No he wasn't."

"Yes he was."

"No, he wasn't."

"Yes, he was."

" _No_ , he wasn't."

" _Yes_ , he was."

" _No_ , he _wasn't._ "

" _Yes_ -"

"Enough." Mikoto snapped, setting down the plates. "You're both dressed terribly."

Itachi laughed, delicately removing the long-fingered gloves and leaving them folded above his plate. Sasuke rolled his eyes and sat down next to his brother, eyeing the elder discreetly. 

* * *

He was deep in the forests, roaming anywhere that wasn't fenced off. 

_"So, you're the next one, huh? The prophetic reincarnation."_

Sasuke spun around, hand reflexively grabbing his sword. "Hello?"

 _"You're the one who's supposed to live the life I should have had. You're going to marry the dobe, help him raise his little munchkins. You'll help him run the Village. You've never run."_ Bitterness crept in.  _"You get to keep your brother."_

_"You can't blame him, Otouto. That decision was mine."_

_"I can resent him for it."_

"I won't let you." Sasuke spun around to see Itachi, eyes alight. He looked grim. Sasuke backed up into him, taking one of his brother's hands and activating his own Sharingan, though he didn't see anything. 

_"Sasuke, leave him alone. Can't you be happy for him? That someone will get the life you deserved?"_

_"I deserved it and I never got it."_

_"Then what about me? Do I not deserve this happiness?"_

_" . . . You didn't get it. You were still captured, tortured and broken. We both seen. Don't lie to me, Itachi."_

_"I'm alive. And I have Kisame. I'm in love and loved this way. So are you. No running, no fear, no pain. Well, not as much pain."_

" _I don't want him to have it."_ _  
_

_"And why not?"_

_"I want us there, being happy all of our lives."_

A shadow stepped out from behind a tree, a long black cloak falling off broad shoulders. One bright red eye and one purple one blazed out at them, narrowed in resentment and malice.

_"I want to kill him."_

_"Sasuke, no!"_

* * *

"MOVE ITACHI!"

"Agh!"

Sasuke snapped up, met with dusty scrolls and flaking parchment, the electric lamp hanging from the ceiling still burning vaguely. Beside him, Itachi clutched a rib.

"Oh God! Did he get you, Itachi? Did he hurt you?"

Itachi let out a tired and pained chuckle. "You elbowed me in the ribs when you startled awake."

Nagato appeared around the corner, his pale face gaining some colour again when he seen the brothers. "Oh, thank Kami."

Itachi looked up. "What are you doing down here?"

"The Rinnegan - I can sense people with it and when someone else has it, I can look through it." The tall man shivered. "I thought I was dreaming, but I could see you and Sasuke in the Forest of Death. Someone was watching you. I snapped back to myself and came running. As soon as I got near the Uchiha residence, I could feel it. One chakra signature full of cold malice, the other one cool acceptance. I slammed both of them with my chakra and they disappeared. Who were you fighting?"

"Uchiha Sasuke. Uchiha Itachi was there as well, trying to talk him down." Itachi replied. Sasuke looked over at him like his head was on fire. 

"You knew who they were?"

"This is not the first time I've been haunted by Uchiha Sasuke. I doubt it will be the last." He ran a hand over his face. "I don't think he was expecting you, though." Itachi stood, smiling. "So, when did you get in? I didn't think you were coming until later this week."

Nagato smiled sheepishly. "I got in only a few moments ago. I was resting on our drive over when I seen it. I got here as fast as I could."

"Thank you."

Suddenly, Nagato got more serious. "Should the rest of us expect this?"

Itachi sighed wearily. "Uchiha Sasuke was never malevolent to me. He always watched, like he was curious about how I grow up, what I would choose. Studying me more than watching over me, I think."

"What did he want this time?"

"To kill Sasuke."

"Do you think he'll come back?"

The ground shook, thick red chakra sweeping through the archive. Resolutely, the same voice Sasuke recognized from Kurama replied. "No."

* * *

When Sasuke, Itachi and Nagato emerged from the Uchiha archive, it wasn't Naruto waiting for them, like Sasuke thought it would be. Instead, it was Minato, his chakra thickly crimson and violently dark. His eyes were a sharp, angry red, his hair darker than Naruto-Kurama's blood orange. He, too, possessed tails that twitched, unrepentant and irritated. 

"What did you do with them, Lord Kurama?" Nagato asked.

"I pushed them back to the spirit world." Kurama replied, the voice sounding even stranger coming from Minato. "You are lucky to have so many powerful people that care about you, Itachi. Had Nagato not felt that, your brother would be dead right now."

"Will they return?"

Kurama grinned sharply down at Sasuke. "No. Even they cannot resist the pull of the spirit world and the push of a demon's chakra. They have no body any longer, so any damage they suffer is irreparable and permanent. They would not fight me and risk utter destruction."

"Thank you, Lord Kurama." Itachi bowed, something the younger had never seen him do.

Kurama nodded before all of his luminescence faded and Minato's unconscious body fell for the floor. Nagato rushed to catch him. The dim silence of the Uchiha courtyard finally settled over them. 

"I'll take him back the Hokage's mansion. I'm a guest there anyway. You two get some rest. I'll see you both tomorrow." Nagato said, voice a hushed whisper.

 

 


	36. A Blessing

Sasuke was back in the Forest of Death.

"I apologize for last time."

He turned and his gaze connected with a cool grey one. The man on the tree stump, maybe twenty, was wearing simple, loose clothes made of a dark greyish-black material. 

"What do you mean?"

The man brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "My brother tried to attack you. I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for what happened. I never wanted to intervene, especially with how your lives are now."

"Who are you?"

The man inclined his head, a fond smile on his lips. "Ah, how very rude of me. I am Uchiha Itachi."

Sasuke's hand fell away from the blade and he knelt before the sitting man. "Oh, wow. You look just like my brother."

He chuckled. "I would hope so. He's my reincarnation, after all. I'd be more concerned if he didn't."

"Why are you here now?"

Itachi sighed. "My brother has watched over yours all of his life. From the time he was an infant, Sasuke was always near. Itachi seemed like the only person who cold sense us, if not see us. I wanted him to leave the mortal world to it's own ends, to let fate take it's course. Still, he watched. He grew more solemn after the eighth year, so I began to take his vigil with him. That's when I began watching both of you."

"Why?"

"I wanted to know what mistakes Itachi would make. If they would affect you the same way mine did Sasuke."

"And?"

Itachi smiled ruefully. "I don't know if he made better choices. We seem more similar than I'd hoped we'd be. But he was very fortunate to have this many who love him, who would protect him the same way he protects them. And you, most of all, he did right by. He didn't lose you like I did my brother."

Silence split the air between them until Itachi sighed, gently caressing Sasuke's hair. 

"In the end, I suppose, this was only really for my benefit." The elder mused. "Even in death, I'd always wondered what happiness would look like on the Uchiha clan. It brings me endless joy to know that you are one of the ones to experience it. Even if you are not my Sasuke, I love you all the same. Both of you."

Sasuke bowed his head, unable to think of how to respond to the ancient spirit.

"Oh! I almost forgot." Itachi leaned forwards and took his hands, smiling up at him. "Congratulations! I hope you and Naruto live long and healthy lives."

* * *

Sasuke woke up firmly in the arms of Itachi, the elder nearly crushing him with how tight he was being held. 

"Itachi? What are-"

"I felt your chakra disappear. When I came in your body was cold. I thought- I thought Sasuke was back."

"I'm sorry to scare you like that, Onii-chan."

"It's okay. I- I know that you were pulled away by another, not because you were dying. But I-"

"It was Uchiha Itachi, Aniki. He wanted to apologize for Uchiha Sasuke and tell us that he loves us."

"Okay." Itachi pulled him tight again, nuzzling into his hair. "Okay."

"You were really scared, weren't you?"

"In all my years, both in this village and outside it, I've never had anything like that happen to me. Let alone . . . Let alone targeting you."

"It's okay, 'Tachi-nii. I'm here now. I'm not leaving. Neither are you."

* * *

"You look like shit."

Itachi threw himself down on Kisame, eyes bloodshot and body sagging with the weight of sleeplessness. "Go fuck yourself, Madara."

The elder raised an eyebrow. Itachi was usually much more composed than this. Kisame seemed to know what was wrong, however. He cradled the Uchiha close to him, draping the shirt he was going to wear over the curled body of his lover. Within minutes, Itachi was sleep, the man tucked into a tiny ball on his lover's lap. 

"What's wrong with him?"

Sasuke sat down next to Hashirama, who was staring at Itachi, concern lacing into his frown. "He had nightmares last night and couldn't sleep."

"Nightmares about what?" Hashirama asked slowly. 

"Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi."

Madara's visible eye widened. "Oh.  _Oh_. I see. I've leave him be, then."

"What do you know about that?"

Madara looked back to his cereal. "Itachi's seen the Uchiha brothers all of his life. He's carried resonances of the Uchiha since he was born. I know you can't speak the Ancient Dialect, but when I hear him speak it, it gives me chills."

Hashirama's frown remained when he turned to Sasuke. "His voice, when he speaks like that, rumbles with the pain of Uchiha Itachi's life."

* * *

When Itachi awoke, he was looking much better, stretching languidly across Kisame's chest like a human cat.

"Feeling better?" Kisame asked, petting his hair. 

Itachi nuzzled up into it. "Yeah. I am. Sorry for being an asshole."

"Don't worry. You only snapped at Madara."

"Ah. Then I'm not sorry."

"What was the nightmare about?"

"Pardon?"

"The nightmare that kept you up all night. What was it about?"

"Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke. More specifically, Uchiha Sasuke trying to kill my little brother."

"I can see how that would scare you."

He frowned and nuzzled into Kisame's neck. "Can we talk about something else?"

The elder man grinned, wicked teeth gleaming. "We can  _talk_ about whatever you'd like."

He rolled so he was chest to chest with the Akatsuki. "Oh?" He stroked a finger along the gill-marks covering Kisame's neck and cheek. "Did you learn about something you'd like to . . .  _try_?"

"Mmm. Recently, yes. His name is Itachi Uchiha, you see. I've heard he's an amazing delicacy where he comes from."

He raised an eyebrow with a grin. "Is that so? Do tell me more."

"Mmm. You'd adore him to meet him. He's the most beautiful person I've ever seen. His hair is long and black, like strings of black spider silk. These lines on his cheeks make him look much older than he is, but it only makes him sexier, I promise. And his left hand-" Itachi cradled the once mangled flesh to his chest, very conscious once more of its wrecked and scarred appearance. "-has the most intricate stonework done on it. It looks like a tattoo, despite being scarring. You don't believe me, but it only adds to his beauty."

"Is there anything that could bring him down in your eyes? You sound very passionate about him. Are you sure he's that beautiful?"

"Well, I haven't even spoken about his vast heart or his far-reaching mind. Age decays outer beauty, but what's inside him . . . My, I don't know if Kami herself could take it from him. And no, there's not. He'll be a god in my eyes for as long as I live."

"I love you, Kisame."

Kisame nuzzled into him. "That's more than I could ever ask for."

Itachi slid gracefully to his feet, an impish grin on his face. "Bedroom. Race you there."

 


	37. True Scope

A week into their stay, Naruto and Sasuke were lounging by one of the Uzumaki pools, its natural underground whirlpool bringing about a nice breeze. 

"I know it's permitted for other Jinchuuriki to see the Seals, but honestly, you could show a little modesty."

Naruto jolted like he'd been shocked. "Gaara!"

Standing with one hip cocked, his hand resting smugly there, was one of the single most gorgeous redheads he'd ever seen. His skin was pale, but creamy. His hair was cherry crimson, rich like deep red wine. His eyes were, by contrast, a translucent sea foam green that shone in the sunlight like coloured glass. His hair shifted and revealed an elegant kanji, 'love'. He was dressed in a long black coat with thick red fur around the collar. Underneath that, he was wearing mahogany red, a darkened grey armoured vest strapped over one shoulder. 

He smiled warmly as Naruto raced over, nearly crushing the much smaller redhead in his hug. "Thank you so much for coming, Gaara!"

"I couldn't miss my best friend's wedding." The redhead snarked. "Who's the lucky lady?"

"That would be Sasuke."

"Hey!"

Gaara grinned and moved around Naruto, crouching beside him and extending a hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Gaara Sabaku, Kazekage of Suna."

"Pleasure's mine. I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

"Itachi's little brother?"

Sasuke blinked. "You know Itachi?"

Gaara smiled. "We worked together in order to rout the Russians trying to move in on us. That was after your brother took over the Uchiha."

"Aren't you a little young to be Kazekage?"

Gaara's smile fell. Naruto frowned behind him. 

"He finally passed, did he?"

Gaara nodded solemnly. "They named me Kazekage two years ago, but he died two months ago, yeah."

"Aw, man, I'm so sorry."

Gaara shrugged uncomfortably. "Well, he was a bastard. Can't help it, I suppose." He shook his head. "But this isn't about me. You two are getting married, and that's beautiful."

"Wait, they named you Kazekage and you're still Shukaku's . . . ?"

Gaara nodded. "I thought it was strange too. I thought for sure that Temari or Kankurou would get it, especially since the laws say I'm not allowed to be Kazekage."

Sasuke frowned. "Wait, why wouldn't you be?"

"He's the One-Tail's Jinchuuriki."

"But you're- ?"

"It runs differently in Suna." Gaara stood. "Anyways, I just wanted to stop by before others swarmed you. Dinner tonight?"

"Yeah, sure!"

"I'll catch up with you later then." Gaara beamed at them, red hair sighing in the wind. "Catch a tan for me, will ya?"

"I'll give you some of mine." Naruto joked. The redhead's laugh echoed long after he'd disappeared. 

* * *

"Yo,/Na-ru-to!"

"Bee?" Naruto's eyes grew wide. "Bee!"

"Long time no see,/how ya be?/Fool, ya fool!"

Naruto giggled. "I've been awesome! Bee, I'd like you to meet my future husband, Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke, this is Cloud's Jinchuuriki, Killer Bee."

"So you're Sa-su-ke, eh?/I wish you the best along the way,/ye-yeah!"

Sasuke leaned into Naruto. "Is he always like this?"

"He wants to be a rapper and he thinks free styling all the time will help him."

"Does it? Or is he just this terrible all the time."

Naruto just grinned. "He rhymes, doesn't he?"

* * *

Two women and an elegant man were sitting in the living room drinking tea. 

"Wow! I didn't expect for all of the Jinchuuriki to come."

The woman with the green hair grinned bright enough to blind the sun. "Naruto! Did Bee finally get done with you?"

"Yeah! Guys, this is my fiance, Sasuke. Sasuke, this is Fuu from Iwa," The green haired woman grinned and waved. "Yugito Nii from Kumo," The woman with long braided blonde hair waved much more serenely. "and Utakata, from Kiri."

"Erhm, what?"

"I'm from Stone." Fuu grinned. 

"I'm from Cloud." Yugito said, smiling softly. 

"I'm from Water." Utakata murmured, taking another sip of his tea. "It's a pleasure to meet the future husband of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki."

A moment of silence passed between them.

Yugito laughed softly and gestured to the empty seat beside her. "Come, Sasuke, take a seat. You look very confused."

"That's because I am." He finally choked out. "How many of you are there, exactly?"

"Jinchuuriki?" Yugito watched him placidly as he sat down, Naruto sitting down beside him. "There's supposed to be nine. Right now, there are ten."

Sasuke blew out an exasperated breath. "What?"

"There's supposed to be one Jinchuuriki to one bijuu, one Tailed Beast. However, as the Hokage has already chosen his successor, the Kyuubi has been split into Yin and Yang, sealed in two Jinchuuriki."

"Under normal circumstances, the Hokage would only split Kurama for about five years." Naruto explained. "They would choose their successor, give them the Yang half, and let them have a five-year adjustment period. I've had Kurama already for eight years and there's no sign of my dad retiring."

"I see. So, what Jinchuuriki have I met so far?"

"Well, Gaara's got Shukaku, the One-Tail. Yugito here's got Matatabi, Two-Tails. Utakata, with Saiken, Six-Tails. Fuu, with Choumei, Seven-Tails. And then Bee, with Gyuki, Eight-Tails. Oh! And me and Dad with Kurama."

"I see. So, where are-"

* * *

Sasuke wanted to die.

Lazing on Kisame, who was lazing on the couch, Itachi chuckled. "Long day meeting your husband's friends?"

"Fuck, who knew there were so bloody many?!"

"Naruto has to be well connected in order to run Konoha someday." Itachi settled more comfortably against his boyfriend's chest. "Don't worry. Over time, you'll learn their names. Imagine what it was like for Minato. He didn't know anyone when Jiraiya brought him into the fold and four years later, he's the Hokage."

Sasuke collapsed on the other couch. "Yeah, I guess."

"You'll do just fine." Kisame rumbled, stretching languidly, muscles rippling even with Itachi draped over him. Despite how many times he'd seen just such a display, he was still awed that such strength could come from just one man. Itachi rolled onto his stomach as Kisame was arched and laid himself more fully against his boyfriend, letting the book he'd been reading slip from his fingers. It was like watching the tide wash up against a flexing rock. 

"Do Naruto and I ever look like that?"

Itachi glanced over at him. "What do you mean?"

"You two. Do we ever look just . . . natural? Comfortable? Easy? At peace? I mean, Kisame's all hard muscle and strength and you're all liquid grace."

Kisame grinned, dropping back onto the couch. Itachi bent with him, his limber form easily adjusting to the new arc. "You and Naruto don't have the same relationship we do. You're much less serene than Itachi and I."

"You're very playful with one another." Itachi said, nuzzling into his boyfriend's chest. "Less quiet and more physicality. You also don't touch as much as we do. But you hug and kiss each other all the time, which Kisame and I really don't."

"You don't?"

"He makes the same whimper when I kiss him that he does when we're having sex. It's hard to kiss him in public or even when you're on the floor because I want to jump him."

"Gross. I didn't ask to hear about your sex life." He bemoaned. 

"Well, kissing isn't casual affection for us like it is for you. The kissing is the more intimate act. For you two, I would assume, you cling together during sex, one or both of you always holding on tightly."

He said nothing and Itachi grinned. 

"See? Your nii-san knows his way around affection. Though I never honestly thought you would be so prudish about talking about sex."

"Aniki!"

"Well? I wasn't  _wrong_."

"It's between me and Naruto! Of course I don't want to talk to my older brother about it!"

"Give it ten years and you'll come asking me about kinks and fetishes you can get into." Itachi replied, Kisame's idle petting of his hair putting him to sleep. 

"EWEWEWNO." Sasuke stood and bolted. 

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah." Itachi's dark eyes sparkled. "I want a kiss."

 


	38. Quality Time

When they met up for dinner at a higher-class restaurant, Gaara was already waiting for them. He was dressed-down, somewhat, with black slacks and a nice maroon dress shirt that complimented his hair. He stood when they approached, offering a friendly smile. 

"I'm glad you could make it. I was worried Bee would have stolen you."

"How could I pass up the opportunity to talk with you? Since you became Kazekage, it's been so hard to get time for just us."

"I know. It's frustrating, honestly."

Sasuke looked between the two of them. "Are you sure  you two aren't going to marry?"

Gaara looked startled for a moment before laughing brightly. "It's true friendship when there's rumour you're gay for each other."

* * *

After that, dinner went really smoothly. Naruto and Gaara talked briefly about what had happened to the previous Kazekage, apparently Gaara's father. According to Gaara, the man had contracted cancer two years ago, but the disease progressed rapidly and uncontrollably. Temari and Kankurou, Gaara's siblings, were too shaken up to take over the Kazekage duties. Instead, the redhead asserted himself in the position secretly, running Suna without so much as a request to do so. They found him out six months in and a battle between Elders broke out, half for Gaara and half against. One day, Gaara showed up in the official clothing declaring him the Fifth Kazekage and simply stared at the Elders that tried to approach him on the subject. Once their father died, Temari hosted the official crowning and Gaara was made Kazekage permanently. Just listening to the description of the man and his actions, Sasuke didn't like him already. 

"What were you thinking of having for dinner, Sasuke?" Gaara questioned, bringing the Uchiha back into the conversation. 

"To be completely honest, I have no idea. I can't read the menu."

Gaara blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. The letters are all unfamiliar."

Gaara looked at Naruto and the blonde shrugged. "Sasuke was born in the States and Itachi kept him out of Konoha business. I'm not really surprised that he doesn't know the Ancient Tongue."

"You, your father and your mother were all born in the States and you all know it."

"For my parents, it was a rushed and harsh learning curve." Naruto shrugged again. "They taught it to me all the while I grew up. I seal in that language."

Gaara sat forward, mouth parted in awe. "You can use fuinjutsu?"

"Mom's an Uzumaki. I mean, she wasn't a part of this before my father, but Lady Mito made sure my family learned. That's how my dad does the Flying Thunder God."

"You guys are talking over my head again."

Naruto grinned sheepishly, but Gaara still looked shocked. The redhead explained himself. 

"The Ancient Tongue is a storied and vast language that is the predecessor to modern Japanese. Seals are a complex web of chakra used to create a specific reaction, unlike ninjutsu. Seals can do just about anything and everything. That art is called fuinjutsu. The Uzumaki are infamous for it, Lady Mito especially. It's a difficult art to master in the simplified Japanese, let alone the sprawling and messy Ancient Tongue."

"Pervy Sage does it to, so it can't be that hard." Naruto defended. "I just grew up with it. For a long time, I spoke all three languages at once."

Gaara tossed him a deadpan look. "Jiraiya is the Toad Sage. He studied under Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, and is from the same clan as Hashirama and Mito. Do you really think they wouldn't take the time to teach it to him if he wanted to learn it? Orochimaru knows it."

"Okay, Gaara, okay. Down boy."

The redhead giggled. "You're right. We'll let that be. Why don't you tell your darling what's on the menu, huh?"

* * *

Sasuke got roped into staying in the Uzumaki home that night. They decided, after they had bid Gaara goodnight, to play around in the pool a little before bed. When they got there, they were surprised to see Minato and Kushina in the water. 

"Oh! Welcome home, boys!" Kushina called, giggling and squirming as Minato's hand brushed a ticklish spot. 

"Care to join us?"

Naruto grinned and pulled off his shirt, but Sasuke grabbed his arm. "What is it?"

"Should I . . . Am I allowed to see your father's Seal?"

"Eh-" Naruto froze for a moment. "I don't know." He turned back to the pool. "Dad?"

"Hmm?" Minato let Kushina go and swam over to them. "What's up?"

"Can Sasuke see your Seal?"

He fidgeted. "I don't want to accidentally if I can't."

Minato pondered this for a moment. "Only the previous Hokage, your spouse and your Medical are supposed to see it. But, in our case, Kushina has already seen Naruto's Seal, though she technically shouldn't. I like to think that close family is the same exception as a spouse."

"But I'm not related to you." He protested. 

Minato smiled charmingly up at him. "Family, not relations. You're marrying my son, which makes you the same. If I were to have had any more children, I'm sure they would have seen Naruto's Seal, my Seal or both. I'm not worried about you, considering that I would like to swim shirtless."

"You're the Hokage." Sasuke still looked uncomfortable, but he nodded resolutely anyway. He tossed off his shirt, joining Naruto's, and the two jumped into the pool. Kushina laughed and Minato shook his head, a smooth smile on his face. 

Naruto sidled up to Sasuke, slowly rubbing his hands along his stomach from behind and resting his head on Sasuke's shoulder. 

"You're beautiful, Sasuke."

"Tch. I'm not a girl, idiot."

Kushina laughed and winked. "That's not what your limp tells me."

The Uchiha's eyes blew wide. "What?!"

"You limp after you've been with my son!" She giggled again and Minato ducked his head to hide his muffled snickering. 

"Kushina-haha!"

"You do!"

Sasuke bristled. "Oh, oh. Don't think I didn't notice you walking a little crooked this morning, eh? You can't hide you wince from me!"

Kushina smirked. "Everyone in the complex can hear you get fucked into complete docility."

Minato flushed pink and Naruto slowly retreated to tread water with his father, though there was a hint of a smug grin under his mortification.

"Tsunade and Orochimaru take bets on if you'll be able to walk."

Kushina paled before her grin turned predatory. She slid through the water, red hair swishing behind her ominously. Her eyes sparkled darkly as she stalled, just close enough that they could feel each other's breaths. "At the cottage you and Naruto stayed at to see his Seal, there are outside cameras, Hi-Def, that filmed the two of you fucking on the deck."

Sasuke became another shade paler before a wicked red gleam came to his eyes. "When I was seven, I was staying over at your place and got trapped in the living room as you and Minato-sama fucked in the doorway."

Suddenly, both wives were pulled under the water. Sputtering and angry, they turned on each other only to see them in the same state. Behind them, Naruto and Minato emerged in a breathless heap, giggling like mad. 

"That's what you get . . ." Naruto barked out through breathless laughs.

" . . . When you discuss our sex lives." Minato finished, grinning as he slung one arm over his son's shoulders.

Kushina and Sasuke glanced at each other. "Well. Happy life equals happy wife, right?"

Sasuke nodded, evil coming to his eyes, challenge. "Absolutely, Kushina-haha. And we are not happy."

Naruto and Minato froze. 

"Would you like to start, or shall I?"

"You take the honours, Kushina-haha."

Father and son looked between each other and ducked under the water, re-emerging a few feet on either side of them and splashing water before ducking under again.

And so the Water Wars began. 


	39. The Night Before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a one-shot based on Naruto's perspective. It's called "They Passed Like Rain On The Mountains" and it can be found in the series this one is, if you're interested.

"Nii-san?"

Itachi blinked awake, Sasuke hovering uncertainly by his bed. "Otouto? Are you alright?"

"Uh . . ." He bit his lip. "Nevermind. It's stupid. Go back to sleep, Aniki."

Itachi's scarred hand wrapped around his wrist and he felt like crying. Instantly, Itachi sat up, wide awake. "Baby, what's wrong?"

He collapsed into his brother's arms, stroking the bark brown scars along Itachi's left arm through his tears. "I hate seeing this. I hate remembering. I hate that you'll never escape it. I hate it even more knowing I'm the reason they're there."

Itachi pulled him tighter, strong, durable muscle flexing under the healed skin and pressed a kiss to his hair. "Sasuke? What's this really about?"

"I'm going to get Naruto into a position just like this one."

"Where did you get that idea?"

"I've trained really hard over the last two years, but I have a feeling that's not going to help much. Something is going to go wrong and I- I won't be able to help him. It'll be the same thing over again."

"I didn't realize my kidnapping kept this strongly with you." Itachi sighed, pulling Sasuke to lie down beside him. He cradled him, pressing Sasuke's head into the crook of his shoulder. "I wish it hadn't of happened. Not only because it fucking hurt, but because it lingers."

"How bad did it hurt?"

"A lot. I can't explain how much it hurt. My insides, for starters, felt like I'd been ripped open and had acid poured on the wound every time one of them thrust."

"I'm so sorry-"

"Don't." He kissed the crown of the younger's head. "There is no one to blame but Fugaku, and he'll never touch us again. Just like I promised."

"Just like you promised?" Sasuke wiped at his eyes and sat up, looking at his brother. Itachi smiled serenely.

"There was a function going on the night Naruto was born that Fugaku had to attend as the head of the Uchiha clan. He took Kaa-san with him, leaving me to care for you. I had you in my arms, watching the moon rise into the night sky. You started crying and I held you closer, whispering my promise to you. That night was the first time you slept in my bed. My beautiful baby brother." He stroked down Sasuke's face gently, much the same way he did when his brother was an infant. "Father used to get so upset when you'd cry in the night. I moved your crib into my room that night and it didn't leave until you got your own bed."

Sasuke nuzzled into his brother's chest. "Hey, where's Kisame?"

"Despite my  _firm_ insistence, the elders of this household believe that one should not sleep with their intended until they are married." He rolled his eyes. Sasuke snickered. 

"That why I haven't seen much of Naruto after sunset?"

"The Uchiha clan here, specifically, is very prudish. The Uzumaki-Senju, as far as I know, really have never been. The Hyuuga are by far the worst. If they knew that Neji and Hinata slept together during most of their childhood, they would all die from shock."

"Was Hiashi upset?"

"He didn't like it, but Hizashi said it was only beneficial to them in the long run. He wasn't wrong."

"Hmm. Maybe I'll have to pay Naruto a night-time visit."

Itachi laughed warmly. "You won't have to, after tomorrow. Then they'll  _insist_ that you share a bed." He huffed. "There really is not pleasing some people."

"What about Hashirama and Madara? Or the others?"

"Madara, because Hashirama is a clan leader, has been with him at the Uzumaki-Senju household. Izuna had the option, but he chose to stay with Madara. Obito and Rin are in a small guest villa on Uchiha land. Shisui and Tobi housing with the rest of the Akatsuki, over at the Uzumaki-Senju guest barracks."

"Barracks?"

"Well, they're not one long house with beds hanging off the walls, if that's what you're thinking. It's a large house with small rooms. The beds are twin and a half that fold out of the wall. There's a bedside table with a small dresser and a pop-up closet. They're not large, but they're not meant for more than sleeping. Minato is having a clan home built for them. I've donated some unused Uchiha land for them to build on, considering I was the one that brought them into the fold. Their complex will the smaller than this one, for sure, but it will also be used by the ANBU here, who will be responsible for it's upkeep."

"Wow. I didn't realize all of this was going on."

Itachi smiled and ruffled his hair. "One day you will. Naruto is going to be the next Hokage and you'll be the next First Advisor. Kushina will show you the ropes."

"What will happen to Minato and Kushina once Naruto takes over?"

"Knowing those two, they'll fall back into Second and Third Advisor or rejoin General ANBU. They won't be left out in the cold, if that's what you're wondering."

Sasuke sighed and stroked his brother's hand. "Does it bother you?"

"My scars?"

"The memories."

"Sometimes. The more years that pass, the less nightmares there are. The closer I get to my wedding with Kisame, the happier I am, the more I forget that it even happened. I don't feel it in my body and I've learned that the only way to get through my own torture is to not do it to myself."

"Do you think . . . something like this will happen again?"

Itachi sighed. "We live a dangerous life. What happened to me was something even the Third hasn't seen before. I don't doubt that you will see ugly things, things that bother, haunt and disturb you, but it is something you will overcome. Naruto will be there with you. It's not an easy life, which is why I tried to keep you from it, but it certainly makes all the beautiful moments worth so much more."

"You certainly put a lot of thought into this."

"I have seen my own death already." Itachi hugged Sasuke close, his heartbeat slow and steady. "All that matters in this life is protecting everyone precious to you. Remember that. Family or not. In the end, the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. All the bonds you've forged are sacred, all those who love you - truly - are worth more than any pain, than any suffering, than any personal hardship or torment. You and Naruto would walk to the ends of the Earth and wade into Hell for each other, and no flimsy signed paper or spoken vow means more than that."

"Who taught you that?"

Itachi smiled, bright and warm and beautiful. "You did."


	40. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so we've come to the end. :( But it's been so much fun writing for you guys. This will be the first long fic I've finished!

Sasuke took a deep breath. 

_We were here yesterday. We rehearsed this already. No need to be nervous._

His hands were shaking. Madara smiled at him as he took one of his hands, gently layering on the white paint.

"I was just like you."

Sasuke looked down at his uncle, nervousness wrenching his stomach all around. "Oh yeah?"

"Mmm-hmm. I shook like a leaf during the whole preparation the day of. Izuna finally slapped me, telling me to stop being a drama queen about the whole thing. I have to admit, when he married Tobirama, he was cool as a cucumber about the whole thing."

"Did you have to get painted?"

"Yeah, I did. Izuna did too. That had more to do with our positions in our respective clans, though."

"What do you mean?"

"Because Hashirama is the head of his clan, I had to be the 'wife', being the 'lesser' in status."

"Seems a little misogynistic, doesn't it?"

"A little." Madara grinned. "Mito flat out refused when she married her wife. They both got painted white, but wore the black men's garb, just to be obtuse."

"Does this follow the traditional Japanese style?"

Madara shrugged. "It was the origin of the Japanese heritage you see now. But, the original meanings of these things have been lost. Because we were and are a society of shinobi, we know that purity of the body is not only unlikely, but unnecessary. Obviously, some more conservative families still  _want_ the 'pure' body, but it almost never happens. The white paint represents the purity of the couple's love and devotion, a visible promise of fidelity and truth. Purity of heart, mind and soul, rather than body."

"Oh. Do the men have to get this done even if they're not the 'lesser'?"

"Oh yes. They're painted up to their neck, with a small circle in the centre of their forehead representing the mind's chakra gate. A line will run down the centre of their face to meet up with the rest of the white paint."

"Why do women have it cover their faces?"

Madara smirked. "Makes the makeup easier."

Sasuke snorted and rolled his eyes. "Will I have it covering my face?"

"Yes. But only because you're already very pale. the chakra point and the line won't show very well on your skin."

"You know, I can't imagine you nervous to marry Hashirama-oji."

Madara barked out a laugh. "Hashirama's the only one that can make me like that. He's the only one who can throw me off balance. I think that's the same reason you're shaking now. Naruto's unpredictable and that throws you off. You hate it about him almost as much as you love him for it."

"I suppose you're right."

A few moments of comfortable silence passed between them as Madara finished painting his arm.

"Who will be serving in place of my father?"

"Itachi." Madara moved to the other arm. "I was going to, but Itachi insisted. Minato will be beside Naruto. Mikoto and Kushina will be waiting for you both by the altar to remove the veils from your faces."

"Who was it at your wedding?"

"Fugaku stood as my father and a cousin stood as my mother. The poor girl was killed about ten years ago in service. She was my best friend for a long time."

"What was her name?"

"Sarada." Madara smiled, but there was pain in his eyes. "Hashirama had Tobirama as his father and Mito as his mother."

"Hashirama didn't have any parents?"

"They died when he was twelve in an attack by Hanzo of the Salamander. Tsunade, Jiraiya and Orochimaru stepped up to the plate and ran the clan until Hashirama could be instated. They killed Hanzo and got the nickname 'the Legendary Sannin'." 

"Oh. I didn't realize."

"He also lost two children to service, too. Batsuma first, then Kawarama. They died like Sarada did."

Sasuke felt sick. "I'm so sorry. Both of you."

Madara offered a small smile and shrugged it off. "It was a long time ago, now. Batsuma died before Itachi was born, and Kawarama shortly after. Sarada . . . well, I was young at the time. But I shouldn't be depressing you on the day you're going to get married now, should I?"

"No, Madara, you shouldn't." Izuna appeared from behind him, carrying a large box and some brushes. "You haven't even done his face yet!"

"I was getting to it!"

"Oh my God, go do his back and  _I'll_ do his face."

"Fine, fine.  _Mom_."

Sasuke pursed his lips to stop his laughter. The two brothers were really just children pretending to be adults. 

"So you're nervous too, huh?" Izuna ribbed, smiling.

Sasuke blushed. "Unlike you, I know my future husband's an idiot."

"Not to mention you're stuck with that forever." Madara snarked from behind.

"Says the man who hasn't taken off his engagement necklace since he was twenty-four." Izuna cast a raised eyebrow and a skeptical look his brother's way. "I watched you wash it once without taking it off."

"What? You're going to fault me now for being in love?! All you did in our childhood was whinge about how much Hashirama  _obviously_ loved me and about how I should  _obviously_ love him back."

"Doesn't mean I can't tease you about it now." Izuna sidelong winked at Sasuke, who snorted. 

"Hey! Stay still, brat!"

"Make me, old man."

"Children, children." Shisui laughed, leaving Tobi to stand guard at the door. "No need to get nasty. Our littlest bird is getting married!"

"'Littlest' isn't a word." He snarked back.

Shisui walked in front of him just to make sure he could see his eye-roll. "You better be careful. Izuna's always been good with pointy things."

"Yeah, I know. Why do you think I took his side?" He yelped as a sharp smack hit his ass. "Hey!"

Madara chuckled darkly. "Serves you right."

"Close your eyes, Sasuke." Izuna said, gently clipping his hair back. He followed the order obediently, feeling the careful strokes across his face and the pass of the fan over his face as the paint dried. 

"Am I going to have makeup put on?"

"Yes." Shisui answered. "Don't worry. It'll be tasteful and simple."

* * *

Once the paint was dried and Izuna was done with his eyes (and a little bit on the lips), he couldn't feel it.

"Well, we've had this long to learn to make it comfortable." Shisui joked, standing behind him as he sat at a vanity with a hairbrush.

Sasuke didn't know how Shisui did it, or where he learned to do it, but when he was done, his hair was beautiful.

His bangs were long and glossy, framing his face like perfectly symmetrical black shears. The hair that usually fell down his forehead was parted and slicked to the side. The hair that used to stick up in the back had grown out and weighed itself down over time. To compliment that, Shisui had laid down a headband behind his bangs that was studded with diamonds. 

"It was your mother's at her wedding." Shisui smiled as he put it in.

"I never knew I looked so much like Itachi." With his hair straightened and laid down like it was, his bangs no longer a curtain over the left side of his face, he really did look like his brother. 

"Hmm. You both take after your mother." Shisui grinned. "C'mon. Let's get you dressed."

* * *

Dressing was a somewhat less painful affair. Madara and Izuna kept trying to get in the way, telling Tobi where to hold the fabric so Shisui could pin it all together and tie sashes. 

"Tobi follows Shisui's orders! Shisui knows what he's doing!" Tobi finally snapped, his Sharingan flaring through the darkness of the mask eye-hole. Sasuke just sighed. 

"Am I almost done?"

"Almost."

"You never told me I was wearing a dress to my wedding. If you'd have told me, I'd have picked out a better one."

"Hardy-fucking-har, you prick." Shisui shot back. "It's a kimono and you know it."

"I didn't, actually." Sasuke muttered. "I'm new to this whole culture, remember? Just because you've attended like fifty of these bloody things."

Shisui sighed. "You're right. Uncalled for. Would you like me to explain it to you?"

"Better than listening to my uncles harassing your lover."

"This is the bride kimono, made of starched white unpatterned silk. This one, specially, was made for the Uchiha. Along the back, where you can't see, there is the Uchiha symbol. Normally, you would have a matching hat, too, to cover your hair, but that tradition died out here around four hundred years ago. Women - who this normally applied to - stopped being viewed as inciters of evil, the hat meant to mask their demon horns or some such nonsense." Shisui smirked at Sasuke's wink. "Yeah, I know. Regardless, this dress has the same intentions as the paint - modesty of the soul, mind and heart over body. Especially in a shinobi, asking for modesty is almost a sin. Modesty is a trait very purposefully broken in a shinobi, but this represents more your ability to resist shamelessness. Naruto will be completely covered as well."

"I see."

Shisui chuckled. "I'm sure you do."

* * *

The butterflies that were eased away by conversation with his uncles and cousin immediately returned when he was faced with the door that would lead him down the aisle. Itachi beside him was dressed sharply in a simple grey kimono with black accents, hair loose around his shoulders. 

"Nervous?"

"Wouldn't you be?"

Itachi chuckled, gently taking Sasuke's arm in his. "I suppose I would be."

Sasuke snorted. "You will be. Trust me."

"I think it's a good thing that our kimonos have to be different colours."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Naruto might get confused about which one is his." Itachi winked and Sasuke rolled his eyes, but secretly he was relieved. Itachi was a source of calm that never failed him. Itachi being the one to hand him off to Naruto felt a little better than right.

"Aniki?"

" _Hai_ , Otouto?"

" _Anata wa watashi ni totte, totemo daiji na sonzai desu._ "

Itachi smiled kindly down at him, carefully bringing their foreheads together to touch. " _Sukidesu_."

* * *

Mikoto stood beside Kushina, both of them waiting at the foot the dias. Kushina had Naruto next to her, the man, bless his heart, more nervous than he had been the day he was sealed. Minato stood on his other side, one hand laid gently on his shoulder in support. 

When the doors opened and Itachi lead Sasuke out across the pavilion, Mikoto was speechless. 

She had never imagined that Sasuke would marry before Itachi, nor that he would look as stunning as he did. Her beautiful baby boy, the one she and Itachi had sacrificed so much to protect - and now she got to see the fruit of their labours. Her youngest, walking gracefully, head held high in the morning sun as it shimmered blue in his hair, her diamonds winking at her over the crest of his bangs. 

She had almost stopped herself from giving them to Shisui to put on Sasuke, fearing her son's rejection. After all, she had abandoned him when he needed her most, had left him solely to Itachi and hadn't kept in contact well enough to even know that Itachi was gone, kidnapped. But, she had braved her internal storm and walked up to Shisui with the box before he entered the dressing room. He had taken it with a sweet smile, telling her that there was no way he was letting Sasuke out of the room without them on.

And down he slid, graceful as a dainty swan, a regal display of black on white, his eyes complimented by the red tint in the mascara and glitter added to the black smokey effect of the eyeshadow. He caught her eye and gave her a small smile, the kind he used to when he was a little boy giving her flowers he'd found in the garden or on his way home. Her heart swelled in her chest at the sight, the adoration in that simple connection. 

Kushina beside her was beaming with pride, grin wide and obvious on her face. Mikoto watched her, out of the corner of her eye, nudge Naruto and whisper to him. 

"Look at that piece of ass, huh? Isn't he gorgeous?"

Naruto flushed under his tan, grin only widening. "I am lucky, aren't I?"

Mikoto allowed a smile to slip onto her lips as well.

When they reached the bottom of the dias, Naruto stepped up beside his future husband, grinning like an idiot. Sasuke grinned back. Itachi squeezed his hand one last time before he fell back behind Mikoto, mirroring Minato's position. 

Mikoto and Kushina both stepped forward, both removing the white and black respective mesh veils before falling to the side to allow the couple to ascend the stairs to the altar. 

Itachi took her hand giving her that serene, knowing smile he'd had all his life. 

* * *

Perhaps unreasonably, Sasuke was surprised when the minister started and continued the ceremony in Japanese. While he was a fluent speaker, English was definitely his first language and he couldn't keep up with all the words. Luckily Naruto was there to mouth the words he missed back to him in English. 

The minister finished with a phrase he had missed and he once again looked to Naruto. 

" _Kisu shite?_ " The blonde whispered, eyes lighting up. 

" _Aishiteru._ " Sasuke responded, much louder, before throwing his arms around his husband and kissing him senseless. 

* * *

* * *

Two years later saw Sasuke waiting for Shisui to finish Itachi's preparation.

"You were right, it seems."

He turned to his brother's voice, but his voice was immediately stolen. "H-How so?"

Itachi gently brushed a bang back into place, looking more like sentient china doll than human being. "I am nervous."

"It's all going to be okay, Itachi. Kisame loves you and you love him."

His Sharingan pulsed to life. "I don't know if I can do this, Sasuke."

Sasuke shook his head. "No, you can't."

Itachi hung his head, wringing his hands nervously. 

Sasuke tucked one of the thornless white roses into his brother's hair, letting the blossom settle, still ripe with the morning dew beaded on it.

"Now you're ready."

Itachi let out a breathy chuckle. 

"C'mon, Aniki. It's finally time for you to get something _you_ want, for a change."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anata wa watashi ni totte, totemo daiji na sonzai desu - You mean so much to me.  
> Sukidesu - I love you (care for you)  
> Kisu shite? - Kiss me?  
> Aishiteru - I love you (more serious)


End file.
